Body Knows Best
by heystrippah
Summary: Klaus Mikaelson is a Wall Street highflier and an unapologetic hedonist. Caroline Forbes is a personal assistant with zero patience for his type. But when he accidentally costs Caroline her job, he offers her a solution. Work for him instead.
1. Chapter 1

"No, really, I heard he was coming tonight."

The young investment banker looked at his buddy, Freddie Wilson. "Mikaelson? Are you serious?"

"I know someone who knows someone who knows him." Freddie tweaked his Hermès tie. "It's on his calendar."

"I heard he was working the market in Japan yesterday. He must never sleep."

"Gods don't have to, Drew."

"Well, then, where is he?"

From their vantage point in a corner of the Ritz-Carlton's ballroom, they sifted through the crowd of Manhattan highfliers, looking for the man they called The Idol.

Niklaus Mikaelson was their boss's boss and, at thirty-one, one of Wall Street's big dogs. He was the titular character of Mikaelson Capital and was capable of leveraging billions of dollars at the drop of a hat or killing a major deal because he didn't like the numbers. Since arriving on the Street, he'd engineered one perfectly executed corporate acquisition after another. No one had his track record or his instincts.

Or his reputation for eating hard-core financiers for lunch.

He was indeed a god, but not just because of his major success in the field. It was his image. Klaus was all flashy cars, flashier women and a devil may care attitude to boot. His rogue reputation made it so that the white-shoe, country-club, old school types couldn't stand him…at least not until they needed him to find financing for their corporations' expansion plans or share buy-backs. Mikaelson was the master at drumming up money. In addition to all the bank funds at his disposal, he had ins with some serious private sources around the world. The type of 'ins' that came with being a Mikaelson, an old money English family that ran a powerful global company that dated back over a century.

So yeah, Niklaus Mikaelson was who everyone wanted to be. A rebel with tremendous power. A revolutionary with guts and glory. The Idol.

"Oh…my God, it's him."

Drew whipped his head around.

Klaus walked into the ballroom as if he owned the place. And not just the Ritz, all of New York City. Dressed in a spectacular pin-striped black suit and wearing a screaming red tie, he was sporting a cynical half grin. As per usual.

"He's wearing all Valentino. Must have cost him fifteen grand before tailoring."

"Couch change. I heard he spent a quarter million dollars on a watch last year."

"It was a half million. I checked at Harry Winston."

As the crowd caught sight of him, a swarm condensed and closed in, people pumping his hand, clapping him on the shoulder, smiling. He kept walking, the powerbrokers and A-listers forming his wake.

"He's coming over here," Drew hissed.

"Oh God, is my tie okay?"

"Yeah. Is mine—"

"Fine."

"I think I'm going to crap in my pants."

From her spot behind these two fawning fools, Caroline Forbes let out a decidedly unladylike snort. She absolutely hated these Wall Street types who helped the rich get richer while the poor got poorer, like her mom who was trapped in a debt she could no longer pay off. If it were up to Caroline, she wouldn't be in this ballroom right now, surrounded by these people. But it wasn't up to her – it was up to her boss Lynda Cabell, who was the force behind this illustrious party.

There were no words to express how much Caroline disliked her socialite boss. The woman lived to throw parties, like this one, in the hopes that her name would grace Page Six and validate her very existence. Caroline may not have liked the woman but she was incredibly lucky to have this job. When the economy had crashed and shoved her mother into an unmanageable debt, she'd dropped out of school- NYU- to get a job and send money home to her retired mom. And being a personal assistant to one of New York's elite paid well.

She was moving around the ballroom, making sure everything was going smoothly, when the walkie attached to her hip buzzed.

"Yeah?" She asked into the sleek black device.

The voice of Jess, the event planner, came through. "Ms. Cabell was looking for you."

Caroline muttered a curse beneath her breath before scanning the room for her boss. She caught sight of her across the room and began to make her way over there. By the time she came up behind her boss, Lynda was engaged in conversation with the one and only Niklaus Mikaelson.

Caroline stopped dead behind Lynda's shoulder and stared at him, a riot of emotions hitting her hard. She'd read about him, seen photographs of him, but what made her inner turmoil more savage was how stunningly handsome he really was in the flesh. The thick, wavy, blonde hair, twinkling blue eyes, a strong male face that didn't have one unpleasing feature capping a perfectly proportioned physique which carried the perfectly tailored suit he wore with distinction…it was so unfair! The man had absolutely everything! She also resented the fact that he had a sexual impact on her. And no doubt on every woman who was subjected to his powerpacked presence.

It was highly disconcerting when he suddenly shifted his attention from Lynda to shoot a quizzical look over her shoulder straight at Caroline. Had he felt her hostile stare? His eyebrows lifted with a kind of bemused puzzlement, and the startling blue eyes bored into hers.

Upset by his distraction, Lynda swung around to deal with an unwelcome intrusion. With the recognition that no finesse was needed on a mere employee, her steely brown eyes savaged Caroline with displeasure.

"What do you want, Caroline?" she snapped.

"Nothing, Ms. Cabell," Caroline replied with as much composure as she could muster, given the squeamish spotlight of two sets of eyes demanding explanations. "I thought you needed assistance."

Lynda clicked her tongue impatiently. "Not right now. And stop hovering. I'm sure you have more useful things to do."

Caroline wanted to strangle the woman but instead said "Yes, of course. I'm sorry for interrupting. Please excuse me."

Caroline had already begun her retreat when Klaus intervened. "Wait!" he commanded, stepping forward, one arm outstretched in appeal. He smiled, his perfectly sculpted mouth breaking open to show a row of perfect white teeth, making Caroline instantly determined that he wouldn't get a bite out of her, regardless of how charming he set out to be. "We haven't met," he said in a voice as rich as the rest of him. "I would have remembered a face like yours. Be so kind as to introduce us, Lynda."

"This is my PA, Klaus," Lynda continued in a dismissive tone. "No one you need to know."

The snobbish remark apparently did not sit well with him. "On the contrary, should I do business with you, your PA may be my first point of contact," he countered, a hard glint in the blue eyes.

"Oh, very well then," Lynda conceded, realizing he was going to persist and if she wanted him to butter her bread she had to toe his line. "Klaus Mikaelson, Caroline Forbes."

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mikaelson," Caroline rattled out, wanting only to escape back into the crowd.

He viewed her curiously, offering his hand as though sensing her desire to bolt and purposely delaying her. "Probably more of a pleasure for me to meet you, Caroline Forbes," he said, amusement dancing in his eyes.

Oh, sure! What fun! Big man condescending to the little employee, Caroline thought viciously as she took his hand to complete the polite formality. The flesh contact tingled hotly and his grip felt aggressively strong, pressing a dominant will that she fiercely rebelled against when he held onto her hand longer than polite formality required.

"Please excuse me, Mr. Mikaelson. I don't have time to chat. I'm needed elsewhere," she said firmly, tearing her gaze from the devilishly attractive blue eyes and giving a subservient nod to Lynda whose bad temper was probably already simmering at having an important conversation interrupted.

Apparently Klaus had enough sensitivity to realize he might be causing her trouble and backed off, releasing her hand, though still smiling at her as though she pleased him, though why she would seemed totally perverse of him when the room was full of gorgeous women who would undoubtedly love his attention. Women like Lynda. She gave one last nod to the two before walking off.

Klaus had not been having a good time. He'd slipped away from the gaggle of women whose frivolous chatter bored him and then been cornered by Lynda Cabell who was bent on getting his firm to handle her investments, which was even more boring and distasteful since this night was supposed to be fun, not work. The socialite was being far too irritatingly pushy and her manner towards her assistant had bordered on contemptible.

Caroline Forbes…

Now there was a woman who did interest him—the little sparrow amongst all the glitzy parrots, playing the meek servant when there wasn't a meek bone in her body. A pocket dynamo, blasting so much hostile energy at him, it had instantly sparked the urge to engage her in battle. Not that he could, given the unfair circumstances of him being a guest and her being a worker under the eyes of her disapproving employer.

He gave Lynda five more minutes so she wouldn't blame her PA for cutting her business short, then excused himself, making his way over to his friend Stefan Salvatore.

"Saw Lynda trying to get her claws into you," he remarked with a sympathetic grin.

Klaus' mind was still circling around the encounter with the infamous socialite. "She's a revolting woman. Treated her PA like dirt."

"Hmm…do I detect a note of partiality towards the PA?" A teasing delight danced in Stefan's eyes. He was playing today and he wanted Klaus to play, too. Not that there was any chance of that with Caroline Forbes. Apart from the fact she was unavailable, her hostile glare had hardly been a positive response to him. Though he'd like to tackle the reason for it. Head on. Nothing like a challenge to get the adrenaline running.

The night carried on and it was awhile before he felt it again, his whole body tingling from a blast of electric energy. He turned his head, his gaze instinctively homing in on the source—Caroline Forbes, her eyes blazing at him with feral animosity, stirring the urge to do battle with her, catch her, cage her until she was tamed to his satisfaction. There she was a few feet away, within easy reach, the challenge she threw out drawing him like a magnet. He automatically started to move towards her, their eyes locked in a duel of sizzling passion.

"Klaus?"

The full-of-herself heiress he'd been talking to was calling him back. He'd forgotten his manners. "Please excuse me, Tamsin," he swiftly tossed back at her. "Someone I have to see."

In that brief moment of disengagement with Caroline she'd taken flight, dodging behind groups of people, apparently intent on hiding from him. It spurred Klaus on to catch up with her, force a face-to-face confrontation. He sliced through the throng, his interest aroused to an intensity that surprised him, his heart beating like a battle drum as he intercepted her attempted escape, making it impossible for her not to acknowledge him.

"Hello, again," he said, reveling in the flush of angry frustration that flooded into her cheeks, giving her pale, flawless skin a peaches-and-cream vivacity, making the eyes that warred with his in flaming fury even brighter.

His abrupt appearance in front of her had shocked her into stillness, but it was the stillness of a tightly coiled spring, nerves twanging at the suppression of movement away from him. Her chin jerked up belligerently and a wisp of hair escaped from her bun. He barely restrained himself from reaching up and straightening it for her. He wanted contact—intimate contact— with this woman.

"Mr. Mikaelson…" she bit out, obviously hating being trapped into this encounter.

He smiled, intent on pouring soothing balm over whatever was making her bristle in his presence. "Let's make that Klaus." When she didn't say anything, he continued. "I need some assistance."

She raised a disbelieving eyebrow, offering him no encouragement to spell it out.

"That is your job, isn't it? Assisting any of the guests here who have a problem?" he pushed.

"What is your problem, Mr. Mikaelson?' she demanded, her eyes glinting open skepticism.

"You are, Caroline Forbes."

She frowned, her certainty that he had no problem shifting into a flicker of fear.

"What do you mean?"

"I have the curious sensation that you're shooting mental bullets at me all the time. I'd like you to tell me why."

For a moment her face went totally blank, as though a switch had been thrown and defensive shutters had instantly clicked into place. He watched her laboring to construct an apologetic expression—a sheer act of will, against her natural grain. Her eyes took on a pleading look, begging his forgiveness. Her mouth softened into an appealing little smile. She spoke in a tone that mocked herself.

"I've just had to deal with some trouble with the catering team and they may cause more trouble. I'm sorry if I've channeled my own angst onto you, Mr. Mikaelson. I didn't mean to attract your attention. In fact, you'll be doing me a favor if you'll walk away from me right now. My boss won't like it if she sees you talking to me."

"Surely as a guest I'm entitled to speak to whoever I want," he argued.

"I'm not a guest and I'm taking up your time—time Ms. Cabell would prefer you spend with her," she said pointedly.

"I've said all I intend to say to Lynda."

"That's not my business." Caroline replied, "If I don't stay clear of you, my job might be at risk. So please excuse me, Mr. Mikaelson."

"You're denying me the assistance I asked for," he cajoled. He couldn't remember the last time he'd encountered a woman who was impervious to his charm – not to mention his wealth and status- and he was enjoying himself too much to let her go.

"With good reason," she hotly returned.

"Nonsense! It's totally unreasonable!"

"What is the matter with you?" she cried in exasperation. "Why bother with me when—?"

"Because you bother me more than anyone here."

"What? Because I'm not seeking your attention? Are you so used to women hanging on your every word, your high and mighty ego is pricked by one who doesn't?"

"You did want my attention, sweetheart," he slung back at her in burning certainty. "You were looking at me."

Caroline, who couldn't come up with a reasonable lie as to why she'd been glaring daggers at his back, just shot him another withering look.

Klaus chuckled, her look of disdain having the opposite effect of what she wanted. He wanted to drag her into his embrace and kiss her until all her resistance melted. He couldn't remember the last time, if ever, he had been so aroused by a woman. For the first time in his life he was in total tune with the cavemen of old who simply hauled off the object of their desire and took their pleasure at will. Was it her hostility that excited him? Had he grown too bored with women who were only too eager in their compliance?

Not at all put off by her scorn, he reached his hand up to brush back that strand of hair that had escaped and taunted him ever since. Not wanting to break the physical connection, he ran his fingers along her neck, felt her pulse jump at the contact. She could glare at him all she liked but her body made it clear what she wanted. She was just as excited as he was.

He brought his other hand up to hold her chin and he heard her small gasp. Her pink tinted lips parted a little and he had the sudden urge to bit into one of those plump curves. He leaned down to do just that when a shrill voice interrupted them, sending Caroline jumping in the air.

"Caroline, can I speak with you?" Lynda said harshly, spinning on her heel and expecting Caroline to follow.

Without a second glance at Klaus, she darted off to catch up to her boss. When they were far enough away from Klaus, Lynda spun on her heels to face Caroline again. Caroline took in the vicious look in her eyes and scrambled to think of a believable lie to explain her behavior. It didn't matter because Lynda didn't give her a chance to speak, just leaned in close and whispered in her ear.

"Fraternizing with the guests when you should be working? You're fired." She pulled back and turned again to walk away.

"What?" Caroline shrieked, drawing the attention of a few people standing nearby.

"Effective immediately." Lynda responded without even turning around.

Caroline stood there in a shock for a moment before rushing outside to get some much needed air.

"Oh my god. Oh my god." Caroline said to herself, pacing back and forth outside and feeling the starts of a panic attack creeping up on her.

What was she supposed to do now? She had to pay her half of the rent on the apartment she shared with her friends in the outskirts of Brooklyn. She needed to send money home to help her mom with the mortgage. She could not afford to not have a job.

"Oh my god." She said again, putting a hand to her chest.

"Caroline." A deep voice said from behind her.

She whirled around. "You! YOU! This is all your fault." She charged at Klaus – the man who had single-handedly destroyed her life.

"What is?" He asked even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer. He'd seen the encounter between Lynda and Caroline.

"You got me fired!" Caroline shouted, near tears. She needed to get out of here. She needed to get home, curl up and cry for a bit before waking up tomorrow and beginning a search for a new job. But first she had to give this life ruining playboy a piece of her mind. "Do you have any idea what I had to do to get that job?! Do you have any idea how hard it's going to be for me to find another one?!" She fought the urge to engage in physical violence and instead turned on her heel and walked off.

"Wait." Klaus caught up to her, cutting off her path. "Don't be so cross, Caroline. I can fix this." He said with an easy smile. She was so glad he could smile while she was on the brink of a major breakdown.

"How?" She scoffed with disbelief. It wouldn't matter if he pled her case to Lynda – she would only see that as further proof that Caroline had sabotaged her chances with him.

"You're a personal assistant. I could use some personal assistance. Work for me."

Caroline cocked her head to the side and shot him a skeptical look. "You can't be serious."

He only shot her that same irritatingly sexy half smile before walking backwards towards the hotel.

"The offer's on the table Caroline," he said as he reached the door. "Yours for the taking."


	2. Chapter 2

"What do you think of this one?" Caroline did a twirl for her friend Elena.

"Very chic."

"Yes but does it say, I work for an investment banker?"

Elena looked on as her friend scrutinized herself in the full length mirror mounted on the door. "Explain this to me again. One second you're working for the wicked witch of New York and the next this man just up and gave you a job?"

Caroline pulled the cream colored top from beneath her black pencil skirt and took it off, tossing it on the bed before picking up a beige blouse. "I wouldn't say 'gave' so much as 'owed' me a job. He's not some generous bystander, he got me fired."

"So you mentioned. But you didn't explain how that happened." Elena pointed out.

Caroline ignored the questioning tone in her friend's voice. She hadn't told Elena about the almost kiss that had cost Caroline her job because she simply didn't want to think about it. Because once she started thinking about it, she wouldn't be able to stop. Caroline was a professional and Niklaus Mikaelson was nothing short of a complete womanizer; there would be no kisses or almost kisses or even any thoughts about kissing.

"What about this one?" She asked, twirling again.

"Just as good as the last four," was Elena's nonchalant reply.

"Come on, take this seriously. It's my first day on a new job." Caroline pled. "You only get one shot at a first impression." She smoothed the fabric of the blouse before letting out a huff and pulling it over her head.

Elena caught the shirt as Caroline tossed it towards the bed. "What do you know about this guy anyway?"

"Not much." Caroline replied, walking toward her closet to riffle through more tops.

"Well," Elena said, grabbing Caroline's computer to satisfy her curiosity. "It says here he's made Forbes top 100 financiers two years in a row. He's the youngest guy on Wall Street to operate his own firm. The Financial Times called him a young Warren Buffet." Elena let out a hum of appreciation as she rattled off facts, scrolling through more articles. "Here's him with a model. Oh and an heiress. A B-list actress. Another heiress. I'm getting the impression he gets around."

Caroline snorted, she hadn't needed to Google the man to deduce as much.

"Oh," she heard Elena let out and turned around to face her friend. "You didn't tell me he was British. How was the accent? Unbelievably sexy?" Elena asked with a playful grin.

Caroline rolled her eyes and shook her head. "He's my boss Elena."

"That's how it always starts." Elena said jokingly before turning back to the computer screen. "This man has quite the reputation on Wall Street, Caroline. Are you sure you're ready for this? What do you know about Wall Street?" She pointed out.

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence." Caroline huffed, hands on her hips.

Elena shot her friend a calming smile, picking up the cream blouse and walking over to Caroline. "You're going to do great. You may not know anything about Wall Street but you definitely know how to run people's lives for them. Wear this one and go, you're going to be late."

Caroline gave her a grateful smile before pulling on the blouse and running out the door moments later.

She wasn't sure what she had been expecting when she took down the address Klaus had given her but it hadn't been this. She stood in front of 15 Central Park West and stared up at the high-rise building, shooting a nervous smile at the doorman before strolling into the lobby. After giving her name at the front desk, she was directed to the 82nd floor. The elevator was empty except for Caroline and the elevator operator who inserted a key to send it up to the private floors. The eighty story ride was a quiet one, save for the requisite elevator music, and the doors opened to reveal Klaus standing there. She was a bit earlier than the 9:00 am time they'd agreed on but she assumed they had called up to let him know she was on her way.

He stood there in black jeans and a Henley shirt and Caroline's first thought was that she'd wasted an awful lot of time this morning putting together an outfit that screamed professional.

"Caroline, lovely to see you again," he remarked, looking her up and down in a way that sent odd tingling sensations down her spine.

"Hello, Mr. Mikaelson," she replied curtly, stepping out of the elevator.

His face broke out into that dirty smile he seemed to have perfected. "Not that I don't love the way you say my last name, but if we're going to be working together you're going to have to start calling me Klaus."

Caroline ignored the flirtatious note in his tone. "Shouldn't we head to the office?" she asked, gesturing towards the elevator.

Klaus waved his arm, gesturing to the expanse of the apartment behind him. "I have an office here."

"Here?" Caroline parroted.

"Will that be a problem?" Klaus asked, enjoying the slight flush to Caroline's cheeks when she realized they'd be working from his home. "I assumed you'd worked in a home environment with Lynda."

Caroline nodded her head quickly. "Yes, of course. It won't be a problem."

"Let's get to work then," he said, leading her further into the apartment.

Klaus heard Caroline let out a small 'wow' beneath her breath and turned to find her walking towards the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the east end of the apartment. He stood and watched as she made her way closer to admire the view.

Caroline had seen nice apartment views before at Lynda's place and the homes of some of Lynda's fellow socialite friends but this view was something else entirely. It was a bird's eye view of the city and faced Central Park. The view from up here made it seem like the city stretched on for forever. It was no wonder he had a god complex, what with waking up to a view like this every morning and gazing down from what literally felt like the top of the world.

She stared for a moment before remembering where she was. "Sorry," she said, turning back around and walking over to Klaus.

"That right there," he gestured to the windows, "is just the beginning. I can give you the full tour if you like?"

Caroline shook her head no before he could even finish the offer. The complete tour would include his bedroom and that was one place she had no intention of stepping foot in. "How about just the office?"

As he led the way to his home office, Klaus realized he was already enjoying this new arrangement. When he had informed Stefan of his impromptu decision to hire Caroline, his friend had immediately laughed in his face. "Not the finest plan if you're trying to sleep with her," Stefan pointed out, "unless of course you're prepared to get slapped with a sexual harassment lawsuit." Granted, Klaus hadn't taken into account that being her boss might complicate matters but the realization didn't faze him all that much. He couldn't explain it to Stefan, because he didn't quite understand it himself, but he just wanted to know Caroline - in any way he could.

Caroline wasn't sure what she expected Klaus' office to look like, maybe one of those stuffy looking rooms lined with books like the ones she saw in movies where men lounged in their offices with robes on and smoked cigars, but she was positive there was no way she could have dreamt up the room she stepped into. The room was spacious with large windows off to one side and bookshelves on the other. A colossal mahogany desk sat in the middle of the room and a matching smaller desk, which she assumed he had had put in for her, sat off to the side by the windows. It had all the makings of a regular office with leather couches, chairs, and a computer. What was unusual was the three flat screen tvs mounted high on the wall showing what Caroline recognized as various stock exchange graphs and figures (contrary to what Elena believed she knew how to use Google too and had done her own bit of research on Wall Street), and the huge international clocks on the wall letting her know the time in everywhere from Tokyo to London to Milan.

Caroline was pulled back to reality when Klaus handed her a stack of things.

"The Blackberry is set to take all calls forwarded from the office; you'll need to answer it at all times. The Ipad has my calendar on it and it's linked to various email accounts that you'll need to attend too. Beneath that is my planner, you'll need to sync all business meetings in there with the social meetings on the calendar so there's no overlap. There are also a few files that need to be faxed, stacked in order of urgency." Klaus trailed off, catching the wide-eyed look on Caroline's face. "You look a little bewildered, Caroline. What exactly did you do for Lynda?"

"Planned parties and picked up dry cleaning." She answered without thinking. "But I can handle it!" She tacked on quickly, shuffling the things in her arms.

"Are you sure?" He asked, with a raised eyebrow. Klaus hadn't meant to overwhelm her but his life was incredibly fast-paced and the quicker she leapt in the better it would be.

She shot him a look that clearly said she didn't like to be doubted and walked over to her desk. "I juggled two jobs and a full course load at NYU, I can handle this."

They worked in silence for a while, Caroline trying to get her feet under her and Klaus working on something, she wasn't sure what, very intently. Caroline screened all his calls and was surprised to realize how in demand his ear was, everyone seemingly desperate to talk it off.

By one, she had gotten the hang of handling the phone calls and was halfway through organizing his calendar. Standing up and turning, she asked "should I go out to get lunch?" Lynda had been very particular with her food demands, which was ironic because she very rarely ate it after Caroline went out of her way to order it just right.

Klaus, who rarely remembered to eat when he was working, kept his eyes riveted to the rapidly shifting figures and graphs on the tvs. He gave a quick nod without looking over at Caroline.

"Do you have a preference?" She asked, notepad out and ready to scribble down a complicated order like the ones Lynda issued out.

"Surprise me," was his reply as he pulled out his wallet and handed her a card.

She was halfway out the door when he spoke again. "And, Caroline, get something for yourself too."

She turned around to tell him that wouldn't be necessary since she brought a small packed lunch, (Lynda had never offered to buy her lunch) but he was already engrossed in his work again.

When she returned with sandwiches from the lavish sandwich shop down the street, she expected him to eat and work simultaneously but instead he shut his computer and motioned for her to sit in the chair opposite his desk.

"So tell me about yourself, Caroline. You mentioned NYU."

Caroline, confused as to why he was pausing his day to have lunch with her, answered his questions anyway and found herself laughing once or twice. When they were done, she returned to her desk and they slipped back into silence as they worked.

Caroline looked up when Klaus paused his work to take a personal call. She could tell it was personal because one) it hadn't come through the Blackberry and two) he wasn't exchanging figures or doling out orders. In fact, his voice had taken on that flirtatious tone she recognized from the night they had met. It wasn't so much that Caroline was eavesdropping as it was she couldn't help but overhear. At least that's what she told herself.

"Meredith, love, I can't tonight." He said and Caroline rolled her eyes looking down at his calendar.

She let out a little snort as Klaus ended the call and he looked up to smirk in her direction. "What was that, Caroline?" He asked, no traces of anger in his voice.

Caroline, who hadn't realized she'd scoffed out loud, looked away quickly. "You're my boss; it's not really my place to say anything."

Klaus chuckled, shaking his head. "You're allowed to have an opinion Caroline. I'm not like your last boss; don't ever censure yourself on my account."

Caroline paused, weighing the risks before deciding to speak anyway. "Well does Meredith know you have a standing dinner date with Ana tonight?"

Klaus threw his head back and laughed at the indignant tone in her voice. "All the women I see know exactly what they're getting into, Caroline. I'm not a man of false pretenses. You seem more the serial monogamous type. Let me guess, same boyfriend throughout all of high school? You were a cheerleader and he was a quarterback."

Caroline tried to wipe the look of shock off her face at how accurately he'd deduced her dating history. They, thankfully Caroline thought, didn't get to continue this line of conversation when Klaus' house line buzzed, letting him know the front desk was paging to tell him he had a visitor. He picked up the phone, eyes still on Caroline who had bent her head to hide a slight flush (a look he was quickly becoming addicted too), and told them to send his brother on up.

A few minutes later Elijah Mikaelson strolled into the room with all the inbred dignity of a king.

"Hello, brother. What's brought on this impromptu visit?" Klaus asked.

"Niklaus-"Elijah began but caught sight of Caroline and paused, shooting Klaus a questioning look.

"Elijah, this is my new PA Caroline. Caroline, my brother Elijah."

Caroline stood to shake Elijah's hand, letting out a polite "nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Elijah replied before turning to Klaus again.

"Caroline, cancel my plans for tonight and then you're free to go."

Caroline nodded once, grabbing her things before saying her goodbyes and leaving the brothers alone.

Klaus stood from his chair and ignored the scrutinizing look on Elijah's face.

"You run a multi-million dollar hedge fund; would it kill you to wear a suit?"

Klaus laughed but otherwise ignored his brother's comment. They had this conversation all the time. Elijah basically lived in suits, which he thought was the true sign of a gentleman.

If he was being completely honest with himself, and Klaus was always honest with himself because there was nothing more dangerous than self-delusion, he had been wildly envious of Elijah when their father first passed on the Mikaelson dynasty to his oldest son. But in retrospect, he was glad he hadn't inherited the seat to the throne. Klaus had made a name for himself outside of the legacy he was born into. He wasn't delusional enough to think his family name hadn't played a role in his success but for the most part he had built his own empire and he was proud of it.

"And the new PA?" Elijah asked, drawing Klaus' attention back to the present. Elijah knew beautiful women was his brother's greatest vice and that new PA had vice written all over her.

Klaus just smirked. "Come on Elijah, you can critique my life choices over dinner."

They took Elijah's town car to one of Klaus' favorite restaurants and were seated immediately (much to the chagrin of the people waiting for tables).

"So, what brought you to this side of the pond?" Klaus asked once they were seated.

Elijah divided his time between London and New York where the major headquarters of Mikaelson Global Inc. were but he was a homebody at heart and preferred to stay in London.

"Checking in on my little brother." Elijah responded.

Klaus didn't believe that for a moment. He wasn't Kol, who had an affinity for globe-trotting and attracted more trouble than imaginable; he didn't need to be checked on. But he humored Elijah and dinner conversation carried on with the two talking business and the like.

"So, mother's annual gala is coming up. Can we expect you to make an appearance?"

And there it was, Elijah's noble mission to reunite their family (and no doubt the real reason behind this visit), rearing its ugly head.

"Ah, does Mikael know you've come here to seek my presence at the gala?"

It was no secret to the family that Klaus and his father had never gotten along. He'd left England years ago to escape from beneath his father's thumb and although he visited home occasionally, interaction with Mikael was always short, tense and avoided at all cost.

He contemplated the shockwaves the truth would cause. If people only knew that the great Niklaus Mikaelson wasn't even really a Mikaelson. Contrary to what Elijah believed, Klaus wasn't ashamed of his true heritage. Truth be told, he wouldn't care all that much if the truth were to be revealed right now. It was his so-called father that had a problem with it. God forbid the world learn of his wife's infidelity and how he'd stayed with her even after the fact, raising a son that wasn't even his. It would be emasculating and disgracing, and there was nothing Mikael valued more than his pride.

"Tell her I'll think about it." Klaus answered, although he knew his mind had already been made up. He may hate his father but he wasn't his mother's biggest fan either – her gala would survive without him. He only regretted that he'd be missing out on time spent with his siblings who had never shunned him even when the truth had come to light that they didn't share a father.

Elijah shot him a grave look. "That wasn't the answer she was hoping for."

Klaus just shrugged and lifted his glass of wine. He wasn't in the business of pleasing anyone but himself.

* * *

While Klaus had dinner at a five star restaurant with his brother, Caroline curled up on the couch with Elena and a box of half pepperoni /half veggie pizza. The two girls had been best friends in their hometown of Mystic Falls and had moved to NY together and while their lives were constantly changing, some things never changed. Like half pepperoni/half veggie pizza.

"So how was the first day?" Elena asked, shoulders shimmying in excitement.

"Different from working for Lynda. Very different." But Caroline didn't have much to say in regards to her new job. "How about you? Did you get Allison to look at your ideas?"

Elena had graduated from Parsons with a degree in fashion design and worked for a small time designer. She had been trying to pitch some ideas to her boss for months but never really got anywhere.

Elena rolled her eyes in response to Caroline's question. "It's like talking to a brick wall with that woman."

"Ugh, bosses." Caroline said with a dramatic sigh before bursting into laughter.

"At least yours is hot."

Now it was Caroline's turn to roll her eyes. If she wasn't careful, Elena's teasing jokes would really start to influence her. There was no underestimating the power of suggestion.

* * *

**This one was a bit all over the place but bear with me here, I'm still new to this. It gets better - or at least I imagine it will.**


	3. Chapter 3

Caroline used to think, working for Lynda, she knew what it meant to be busy - planning luncheon after luncheon, gala after gala. But she was only just now realizing what it meant to really be busy. Working for Klaus was…fast. Caroline really couldn't think of another word to describe it. Couriering documents, arranging conferences, transcribing meetings. And that was all just the business end of things. There was also RSVP'ing events, scheduling dates, and buying the many little gifts that kept Klaus' string of endless women happy. But Caroline liked it all. Where Lynda had made her feel like a slave, Klaus made her feel useful. She felt needed. In fact, at the risk of sounding cocky, she was beginning to wonder how Klaus had gotten along before her.

Balancing a Styrofoam tray of coffee cups in one hand and a garment bag in the other, Caroline maneuvered her way around the rotating glass door that led into the lobby of the high-rise building that housed Klaus' company. She'd learned that if you didn't slide in just right, chances are you'd have a coffee meets wardrobe disaster. This, of course, related to the second rule of always having a change of shirt at the office. Caroline had only been working for Klaus for three weeks but she was a fast learner.

She took the elevator to the 68th floor, careful to avoid the swarm of bodies going in and out of the elevator. When she exited the elevator, she made her way down the long hall towards the end where the executive offices were located.

"What's the damage look like?" She asked the older blonde woman perched at a long glass desk that barred access to the three executive offices behind it.

Jenna Sommers was the firm's head executive assistant and a bit of a pit-bull when it came to getting access to executive suite that housed Klaus' office as well as the offices of the firm's two senior vice presidents.

"Well, Davies walked out of there earlier looking like someone had just shot his dog so I guess it's going to be one of those days." Jenna said, taking the coffee Caroline handed to her. "That conference call to Tokyo ran pretty long; I don't think he went home."

"I didn't think he would." Caroline said with a small laugh and shaking her head before walking past Jenna's desk and to Klaus' office.

The office was comprised of two parts, a small foyer of sorts where Caroline's desk was, and behind that the expansive glass office that Klaus occupied. She sauntered into the room, taking in the stunning view of the city behind Klaus' desk before turning her eyes to the man himself who sat back in his black leather chair with the phone held up to his ear.

"I'm done negotiating." Klaus said in a heated tone that confirmed Jenna's suspicions about his mood today. "It's my final offer. And since you so desperately wanted to work out a new deal, here it is. Every hour that I don't hear back from you, I'll dock another 5% off the offer. Deal's off the table by midnight." Klaus hung up the phone without so much as a goodbye and looked up at Caroline.

"Ah, Caroline- a sight for sore eyes." Klaus' face shifted from ferocity to fondness at a dizzying speed as he shot Caroline a smile.

"Would that be because I come bearing gifts?" She asked, placing the coffee in front of him and handing him the garment bag with a change of suit since he had clearly spent the night at the office.

He took the suit and smirked at her, "It wouldn't be the only reason."

She shook her head with a roll of her eyes and began reading off his meetings for the day from the Ipad. She was halfway through it when the door opened behind her and Stefan strolled in.

"Oh, hey," Caroline said in surprise. "I don't have you on here for this morning." She flipped through her planner to be sure she hadn't missed anything.

"It's a bit of an impromptu visit." He said, shooting her that charming smile.

"How'd you get past Jenna?" Klaus asked, nodding his head in greeting.

Stefan put a hand to his chest and turned to face Klaus. "You know she loves me."

"You bribed her." Klaus said definitively; Jenna's love was never enough to get someone past her desk.

"I'll leave you two to it." Caroline said, turning and leaving the office.

Stefan turned his head to watch her go and Klaus found himself wanting to sucker punch his friend. He let out a half cough, half growl and Stefan turned back around, at least having the decency to look shamefaced.

"Right, I forgot - off limits." Stefan said, taking a seat in the black leather chairs opposite Klaus' desk.

"Don't forget again, mate." Klaus replied in a threatening tone, dropping back into his chair.

His friend just shot him that boyish grin and a teasing look. "Why is that, again? It's not like you two are…" Stefan trailed off and shot Klaus an inquisitive look.

"You didn't interrupt my morning to ask me about Caroline, did you Stefan?"

"No, but while I'm here –"

Klaus cut him off, "why are you here?"

Stefan's face turned serious and he sat up straighter in his chair. "Damon and I-"

"Off to a great start." Klaus scoffed. It was no secret that there was no love lost between him and Stefan's brother.

"We're looking to acquire this company." Stefan slid a folder across the desk.

He flipped it open and scanned the pages before shutting it again and looking up. "This company hasn't turned a profit in years. It's a sinking ship. If you want to buy an ad agency, you can find a better one."

Stefan shook his head. "I don't want **an** ad agency, I want **this** ad agency."

Klaus raised one eyebrow and eyed Stefan who responded, "Sentimental value."

"Fine. I don't see why you need me. This company is in the red, make them an offer – I'm sure whoever owns it will be happy to be rid of it."

"We tried. They're sinking but they're holding on tight. And I thought, lucky for me my best friend happens to run the firm leading the financial district in number of successful mergers and acquisitions."

"You and Damon, all your money is in hotels. Why would you want to buy a failing advertisement agency?" Klaus asked out of curiosity.

"You're always telling me to diversify my portfolio." Stefan said with an easy smile. "And I told you, sentimental value. Now, about Caroline…"

Klaus narrowed his eyes, "get out of my office, Stefan. Some of us actually work in our day to day lives."

"Says the kid born with the billion dollar spoon in his mouth." Stefan replied, standing up and leaving the room.

* * *

Gathering up a stack of papers from the copy machine, Caroline glanced down at her heels and thought to herself that she would need to invest in more sensible footwear. She started off down the hall, still looking down at her shoes and contemplating the balance between chic and comfort, when a body slammed into hers, sending her carefully stacked papers fluttering to the floor.

Muttering beneath her breath, Caroline dropped to the floor, quickly snatching up papers.

"I'm so sorry." A deep male voice said just as a body dropped to the floor beside her.

"It's fine. I wasn't looking, it was my fault." Caroline said, glancing up, her eyes locking with a pair of warm brown ones.

She took the stack of papers he handed her and got back to her feet quickly. The man stood up and she got a good look at his built physique wrapped in what she recognized as a very expensive suit.

"Uh, well, thanks." She said with a smile, darting past the stranger and continuing her way down the hall.

She had only made it a few feet away when her mysterious stranger dashed in front of her, hands in his pockets as he smiled at Caroline.

"Okay you caught me. I have to confess – I planned that whole maneuver." He said with a smile, gesturing back a few feet to where they had bumped into each other. "I've seen you around and I've been working out just how to meet you, that's what I came up with. I'm Tyler Lockwood." He held out his hand and Caroline shifted her folders to shake it.

"Caroline Forbes. Your little maneuver did quite the number on my files." She gave him a playful smile, holding up her out of order papers.

Tyler gave a small shrug and a grin. "Yeah the scattered papers, maybe not the finest plan but you can't blame a guy for trying."

"Well, thanks for coming forward with the truth." Caroline said with faux seriousness.

"I couldn't have you spend all day blaming yourself. It was the gentlemanly thing to do." Tyler replied, playing along.

Caroline chuckled with a shake of her head. "The gentlemanly thing to do would have been not knocking me over in the first place." She gave him one last smile before stepping around him and continuing down the hall.

"I don't regret it." He said to her retreating form. "It was nice meeting you Caroline Forbes." He practically called down the hall and she grinned to herself as she made her way back to her desk.

Caroline was at her desk, reorganizing the folders when Klaus called her into his office. She noticed he'd changed into the new suit and she made a mental note to find the one he'd slept in and have it dry-cleaned.

"Caroline, could you take this down to the pit?" Klaus handed her the folder Stefan had given him.

She took the folder with a small smile – she liked that he asked her to do things instead of told her, she'd been barked at enough to last a lifetime.

"Of course, _Mr. Mikaelson_." As per his request, she finally started calling him Klaus but every now and then she'd call him by his last name just to get a smile out of him.

It worked because he shot her that patented smirk as she turned on her heel and left the room. She made her way down the hall and slid into the elevator just as it was closing, surprised to find Tyler already standing there.

"Twice in fifteen minutes." He smiled as the doors shut and they stood alone in the large elevator. "That can't just be coincidence, it's fate."

"Well that first encounter wasn't exactly incidental." She said with a smile.

Tyler put a hand to his chest, "will you ever let me live that down?"

"No."

He just laughed. "Well, I think it's fate and you can't ignore fate. A bunch of us go out for drinks after work at Bemelmans, you should stop by."

She knew the place he was referring to. It was where all the higher ups gathered after work – she wouldn't be able to afford the tap water there let alone drinks. But Tyler was cute so she shot him a coy smile and a 'maybe' before getting off the elevator, well aware that he was watching her walk away.

Still feeling kind of giddy from her flirtation with Tyler, she sauntered into the pit. As always, the pit was a rowdy mess of people shouting out numbers and making calls and pointing at each other – or at least that's what it always looked like to Caroline. These were the young ones, the ones who did all the floor work and would eventually sell their souls to move up the ranks of Wall Street's finest. She found the supervisor and passed off the folder Klaus had given her before making her way back up to the exec floor.

As she sat at her desk and continued to work, she thought about Tyler's invitation. Maybe she would take him up on that offer of drinks. It'd been a while since she'd been on a date and Elena was always telling her to get back on the horse. Hours flew by as she handled some emails and sorted paperwork. She glanced up as Klaus appeared in front of her desk and saw the clock read almost 7:00.

"Caroline," she ignored that slight tingle she always got when he said her name in that husky way and watched as he leaned back against her desk, "Lansing cancelled. Have dinner with me."

He was supposed to have a business dinner tonight at L'Atelier, a five star restaurant; she'd made the reservation for two herself.

"I shouldn't. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would love to take you up on that offer though."

"Perhaps, but I'm asking you." Klaus stared down at her and she couldn't quite bring herself to look away.

"Are you sure? I can call Tamara, or Audrey, Victoria left a message saying she's back in town too." Caroline teased, rattling off the names of various women she knew he saw often.

"Caroline," he said her name in that way again and she felt her breath catch in her throat, "have dinner with me."

His lips broke out into that insufferable smirk and she found herself agreeing. She told herself it was because – well when else would she get the chance to dine at one of New York's finest restaurants – it had nothing to do with the look he was giving her.

He held out his arm and she ignored it, walking around him. There was no way she'd be walking though the office hanging on his arm like one of his bimbos.

Klaus watched her walk ahead of him and couldn't help but laugh at her behavior. Women generally leapt at the chance to be seen on his arm but Caroline strutted right by him, head held high. It's not like she needed him to draw attention to herself; she electrified a room just by walking into it, heads turning to follow her. He would be lucky to be on **her** arm.

* * *

Klaus took in Caroline's quietly stunned look as she took in her surroundings. She stared at the elegant restaurant and he stared at her. The menu was all in French and he was preparing to order for her when she ordered for herself in perfect French. His little P.A. was turning out to be quite the enigma, just full of surprises.

"Your French accent is impeccable." He said when the waiter walked away. "Have you been to France?"

"Me?" Caroline asked with widening eyes. "No. I've never really been anywhere."

"Yet." Klaus replied; he had the inexplicable urge to show this girl the world.

"Yet," Caroline agreed with a nod. "I want to see the world but I love my hometown."

"Ah, the quaint town of Mystic Falls."

Caroline smiled with a faraway look in her eyes at the mention of her hometown.

"So why come to New York?" He asked.

Caroline shot him a look that said the answer should be obvious. "Isn't this where all small town girls want to escape to? My best friend Elena and I had been planning this since junior year. I'd go to NYU, she'd go to Parsons. She's really talented, you should see her designs. One day she's going to be dressing New York's finest."

Klaus watched her talk so passionately about her friend. "And what about you?" He asked, head tilted and gaze fixed on her.

"What do you mean?" She asked, finding his full attention on her both disturbing and alluring.

"What do you want to do? I'm assuming being a PA hasn't been your lifelong dream."

A forlorn look crossed her face before she replied, "Yeah well, sometimes dreams have to be put on hold."

"What if they weren't on hold? If you could be doing anything right now, what would you do?"

"I-" Caroline began but at that moment his phone rang, interrupting their staring match.

"Are you going to get that?" She asked, nodding toward his chest pocket where the insistent ringing was coming from.

"No." He said without taking his eyes off of Caroline.

"Do you want me to get it?" She asked, holding her hand out for the phone.

"No."

The ringing stopped and he just kept that intent look trained on her. "You were telling me your dreams" he said, waiting for her to continue.

Caroline paused for a moment before apparently deciding to tell him. "Well, I was a French and Russian double major at NYU. I also studied Spanish in high school. I wanted" she caught herself and restated, "I **want** to be an interpreter."

That explained the perfect French, Klaus thought. The waiter arrived with their food, placing the meals in front of them before quietly slipping away again.

"Why an interpreter?" He asked. He wanted to know everything about her, he needed to understand her.

"I've always loved languages. And I'm good at it. What about you? Why Wall Street?"

"I'm good at it." He mimicked her answer, although good was an understatement – he was one of the best at what he did.

Caroline shook her head with a huff, "I'm sure that's not the only thing you're good at." She belatedly realized what she'd said and a surprisingly appealing blush crept onto her face.

Klaus just grinned at her, enjoying her moment of cute embarrassment.

"Okay, I have something to confess" Caroline spoke, breaking the brief silence. "It's been a few weeks but…I don't actually know what you do."

Klaus threw back his head and laughed, not at all surprised by her admission.

"Maybe when you're done laughing at me, you can explain." Caroline said with a serious look on her face but amusement dancing in her eyes. `

He'd never had to explain his job to a woman before; all the women he associated with were more interested in how much he made than how he made it.

"Okay," he said leaning forward in his seat again. "Have you seen Entourage?"

Caroline nodded and waited for him to continue.

"So I'm Ari Gold" he began but was cut off by Caroline's snort of laughter.

"Sorry, I'm imagining you without those luscious locks." She waved her hand, reigning in her giggles before saying, "okay continue."

Klaus smiled- he liked her laugh – before continuing. "Vincent Chase and other celebs are like companies – they're commodities. Now the studios are like private equity firms and larger companies – they're in the business of buying and selling these commodities. That's where I come in as Ari Gold, the agent. It's my job to be the mediator between the two. I negotiate offers, introduce the two parties, etc. etc."

Caroline nodded in understanding. "Okay so the stock market is like Hollywood?"

He found himself turned on by her eagerness to understand his work, although he had yet to find anything about Caroline that didn't turn him on.

"In layman's terms yes. Some companies are naturally more desirable than others, like Vincent Chase is a better sale than Johnny Chase. But all companies have their ups and downs. If a company looks like it's burning out, it's time to dump stock, if a company is like a new rising star you want to get in on it while you can."

"So hypothetically speaking, if I had the spare change lying around – what should I invest in?" Caroline asked.

"Well that depends," Klaus said with a smirk, leaning forward on the table, bringing his face closer to Caroline's.

"On what?" She asked, her eyes subconsciously darting down to his lips before looking back up to his sparkling eyes.

"On how much of a risk taker you are, Caroline." He spoke almost beneath his breath and he could see the pulse at her neck start racing.

The moment was broken by the arrival of their waiter to take their plates away. He leaned back in his seat and ordered dessert for them both while Caroline worked to bring her racing heart back down to a steady pulse.

"I'm not a risk taker." Caroline said, her tone all serious now and Klaus got the distinct feeling they weren't talking about investments anymore.

"Maybe it's time you changed that. The danger might be high but a win can be very…rewarding." He replied, captivated by the way she caught her lower lip between her teeth.

"Says the man who's only ever won. What do you know about loss?" She asked, a skeptical look on her face.

"More than you give me credit for." Klaus responded, eyes still locked on her lips. God, he wanted to kiss her; take her smooth chin in his hand and turn those pretty pink lips up to his. Before his mind could run away with that image, the waiter returned with their desserts.

Caroline took this moment to change the subject. "So can I ask you a personal question?"

"Ask away."

"Why won't you be attending your mother's gala?"

Klaus shot her a surprised look and Caroline just shrugged. "Elijah keeps calling about it." She explained.

"Of course." He muttered beneath his breath.

"So why aren't you going?" Caroline asked again, picking up her spoon and bringing a bite of tiramisu to her lips.

For a moment Klaus was distracted by the way she ate her dessert, fondling the spoon with her mouth. A bit of chocolate ended up on the corner of her lips and her little pink tongue darted out to lap up the stray drop. He lifted his wineglass to his lips and struggled to reign in his urges.

Caroline, who had mistaken his silence for offense, back tracked – "I'm sorry that's none of my business."

She was giving him an easy out but Klaus found himself wanting to give her an answer. "My parents and I don't have the greatest relationship." He twirled his wineglass in his hand as he spoke.

"Oh." Caroline responded.

Klaus, who had learned to tell when Caroline was holding back, shot her an inquisitive look. "I get the impression that's not all you want to say."

"Oh?" Caroline asked, before bringing that damned spoon back to her mouth. Klaus took a second to wonder just when he'd become jealous of silverware before speaking again.

"I know you have an opinion you want to share, Caroline."

She sighed, dropping her spoon. "It's just I know a thing or two about parental relationships and in my experience it's better all-around if you just forgive them for whatever it is you think they've done."

"Is that so?"

"My mom and I didn't have the greatest relationship throughout high school and no one is going to be nominating her for mother of the year anytime soon but I haven't seen her in over a year and if I had the chance to go back to Mystic Falls I'd take it."

"Maybe our families are different."

"Probably." Caroline nodded. "But holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die."

From there the conversation moved on to lighter topics. After he'd paid the check he walked her back outside to his waiting town car.

"Well, thanks for dinner." Caroline said, crossing her arms over her chest to ward off the night chill. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Klaus caught her arm before she could turn away and held the car door open for her.

"Get in Caroline, I'm going to take you home."

"Oh, I live all the way out in Brooklyn. That's completely out of your way. It's fine, I'll just hop on the train."

"This is me insisting." He motioned to the car and waited for her to get in.

She stood there for a moment and Klaus could see the internal debate she was having written all over her face before she gave in and climbed into the back of the town car. He slid in beside her just as she was giving his driver her address.

The ride to Brooklyn was made in relative silence, Caroline focusing more on keeping their legs from brushing than on the conversation. Having dinner together had been fine but this felt different – intimate almost. When the car pulled up in front of her building she hoped out like it was on fire and turned to face Klaus.

"Thanks for the ride."

Klaus, who had intended to walk her to her door, saw the nervous flush take over her skin and amusingly decided to let her off the hook.

"Goodnight Caroline" he said from inside the car before Caroline shut the door, turned and bolted.

He waited until she was safely inside before motioning for his driver to pull off.

Caroline was barely through the door when Elena pounced on her.

"Who was that?" She asked, still looking out the window at the fancy town car pulling away.

"That was Klaus" Caroline replied, still trying to get her breathing underway.

"Klaus?" Elena asked with a teasing look.

Caroline opted for the little white lie saying, "work ran late, he offered me a ride home."

"Mhm." Elena murmured with disbelief and Caroline just narrowed her eyes at her friend. "What was your news?" Elena asked, referring to the text Caroline had sent her earlier in the day.

"Right." Caroline said, having completely forgotten how she meant to fill Elena in on Tyler and his offer to go out for drinks. Where had all her enthusiasm towards him gone? "I met someone."

"Really?!" Elena said, practically clapping her hands in excitement.

"Yeah" Caroline replied with forced enthusiasm.

Tyler was a good guy; maybe if she faked enthusiasm for a while, she might actually start to feel it again.


	4. Chapter 4

**There was a bit of 'oh no Tyler' happening and I suppose I didn't take into account that some Klaroline fans really hate seeing Forwood so I should probably warn you – there will be Forwood. I don't hate them – there was a time (before Klaus showed up) that I felt something just above complete disinterest for Forwood. Short filler chapter.**

* * *

"Hello Ms. Forbes."

Caroline waved to the doorman as she entered Klaus' building. "Hey Ben."

She hummed to herself as she stepped into the elevator. Caroline liked the days where they worked from his home. The office was nice but she preferred the relaxed feel of working, just the two of them, from the penthouse. When he didn't greet her by the elevator as he normally did, Caroline assumed Klaus was still in bed and decided to put a pot of coffee on. He'd be downright unpleasant without caffeine in his system.

Bag swinging at her side, she rounded the corner and stopped dead in her tracks with a gasp. Perched on the counter was a naked redhead and Klaus stood between her legs, his hips thrusting back and forth.

"Oh!" Caroline instinctively slapped her hand over her eyes and backed out into the hallway. She felt her hip collide with something and the distinct sound of shattering glass followed. Moving her hand from her eyes, she looked down at the broken vase.

"Oh my god!" She said, dropping to her knees to start picking up the glass.

"Caroline," Klaus appeared beside her, now clad in a pair of boxers. "Caroline, leave it." He knelt down and pulled her up with him.

"I'll pay for it." She said, embarrassment flushing her cheeks while her brain raced to calculate how many paychecks she'd have to forfeit to replace the broken vase.

Klaus looked down at the glass before looking back up at Caroline. "It's fine. It was an old vase." Of course 'old' was an understated way to refer to a hundred thousand dollar antique but the thing was already shattered and there was no sense in allowing Caroline to work herself up over it.

"Niklaus," the French woman called his name in that way that had been sexy last night but was now just grating to the ears. "Aren't you going to introduce us?" She joined them in the hallway, pulling on his dress shirt as she walked.

Klaus kept from rolling his eyes and fixed his gaze on Caroline who looked as if she'd rather be just about anywhere else. When Klaus didn't move to make any introductions, (why would he? It wasn't as if he'd be seeing any more of this woman), the redhead breezed past him.

"I'm Martina." Holding out a hand, she shot Caroline a calculating glare.

"Caroline." She shook the woman's hand quickly before turning back to Klaus. "I just remembered I have to go into the office, so I'll just leave you two to it."

At the mention of work, Martina's glare loosened into a light smile. "Oh you two work together? Why don't you stay for breakfast?"

Caroline let out a cross between a laugh and a scoff. "Oh, no thanks." Not only would she not be staying for breakfast, but it would be a while before she ate anything prepared in that kitchen again. "I'll see you at the office." She said to Klaus, walking backwards as she spoke.

"Hold on." Klaus said, cutting off her departure. "Give me twenty minutes and we'll go together. Caroline, could you see Martina out?" He asked, already walking away.

The redhead stood there, her mouth opening and shutting wordlessly as she watched Klaus walk away. Caroline watched her walk into the living room and snatch her dress up from the couch.

"So you work with Niklaus?" Martina asked in her heavy French accent. Heedless of the massive windows, she pulled Klaus' shirt off before shimming into her dress.

"I'm his PA." She responded, turning to give Martina privacy – not that the woman seemed all that uncomfortable being seen naked.

"Oh, then can I leave this with you?" She asked, tapping Caroline on the shoulder who turned to accept the piece of paper Martina had thrust at her. "It's my number." She explained as if Caroline would mistake the ten digits for something else.

"Of course it is." Caroline said with a false smile, steering the other woman towards to the elevator.

"I hope he calls." Martina shot her a wistful grin, stepping into the elevator.

Caroline just gave the woman a patronizing smile as the elevator doors began to slide closed, "hope breeds eternal misery."

When she returned to the living room, Klaus stood there adjusting his cufflinks.

"She's a real catch." Caroline said, retrieving her bag from where she had dropped it earlier.

Klaus just smirked, placing his hand on the small of her back and leading her back towards the elevator. "Now Caroline, that wouldn't be a hint of jealousy I detect would it?"

"Absolutely." She replied and Klaus shot her a surprised look as they stepped into the elevator. "She has great legs." Caroline finished with a smile.

"Rest assured- you're excelling in that department."

She rolled her eyes at him but Klaus caught the small smile on her face as she breezed past him and out to the car. He held the door open for Caroline and slid in behind her. The car had just started moving when Caroline began her routine of relaying his schedule to him.

"Okay, so you have the conference call with the board at 10, lunch with Marshall Buchanan at 2, and Stefan wants an update on his acquisition. Also, you should call Elijah back."

"Cancel the meeting with Buchanan." Klaus said nonchalantly.

Caroline looked up from her PDA and at Klaus. "That'll be the third time."

Klaus thought back to how Buchanan had tried to blackball him at the Congress Club, an elite networking club for the old school Wall-Street types. Hadn't worked, but good old Buchanan had given it his best shot. Now the bastard needed his firm to handle a multi-billion dollar merger and Klaus figured that given the amount of groveling that was going on, Buchanan was remembering the blackball thing, too. Let him sweat.

"Change of plans, James." Klaus called to his driver. "Take us to Artisanal."

Caroline, who had been engrossed in her planner, looked up and out the window to see James taking them further from the office. "Where are we going?"

"To this excellent bistro. I'm famished."

"I'm sure you are." She replied, thinking back his morning activities.

Klaus just laughed. "Caroline, you can chastise me for my promiscuity over breakfast."

It was a quarter 'til 10 when they finally made it into the office and Caroline left Klaus to his phone meeting.

As she worked, Caroline fought to banish the image of Klaus' naked body from her mind. Tight ass and a strong back, she hadn't seen much this morning but what she had seen was certainly branded in her mind, and if Martina's lascivious moans were anything to go by, the parts she hadn't seen were pretty damn impressive too. She was walking down the hall, concentrating on thinking of anything but Klaus thrusting into that redhead, when she heard her name being called.

Snapping out of her thoughts she twirled around and looked for the source of the call. A second later Tyler popped up in her view, seemingly out of breath.

"Hey, I called your name like four times." He slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks. "What's got you so out of it?" Tyler asked, trying to appear as if he hadn't just chased her down the hallway.

Caroline may not have a ton of experience with work place etiquette but she could assume it would be bad form to tell Tyler she'd been thinking about her boss's naked ass.

"Oh, just lots to get done." Caroline said, clasping her hands in front of her.

Tyler just nodded before saying, "I was beginning to think you'd disappeared on me. I haven't seen you around at all this week." The moment it was out, Tyler wished he could take it back. It wasn't his intention to sound like a complete stalker.

"Yeah, we've been working from the home office." Caroline replied, her mind racing back to this morning at just the thought of Klaus' home.

"We?" He asked and it dawned on Caroline that Tyler didn't know she was Klaus' PA.

"Kl-" Caroline caught herself and corrected, "Mr. Mikaelson and I. I'm his PA."

Tyler grinned and gave an understanding nod. "Ah. I hear he's a complete hardass."

"He isn't." She snapped quickly without giving it a second thought. She noticed the confused look on his face and belatedly realized her tone may have come across harsher than she had intended.

Tyler, for his part, realized it was probably a bad idea to bad mouth his boss to said boss's PA.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment before Caroline asked, "so how've you been?"

"Good, good." He nodded, grateful for the change in topic. "I'd be doing better though if a certain girl had shown up for drinks last week."

Caroline put a hand to Tyler's shoulder and shot him a sheepish grin. "I'm sorry, it completely slipped my mind." It occurred to her that it had only slipped her mind because Klaus had invited her to dinner but she banished that thought just as quickly as it had arrived.

"Well, lucky for you, I don't give up easily." He responded with a wide grin. "You can make it up to me tonight, if you want."

His smile was infectious and Caroline found herself grinning back. "Maybe."

"Ouch." Tyler put a hand to his chest with a dramatic sigh. "Last time you said 'maybe' you were a no show. I'm afraid I can't let you leave without a guaranteed yes that you'll meet me for drinks after work."

"Really?" Caroline asked, smile still in place, eyebrows raised and a hand perched on her hip.

Tyler just nodded and waited.

After making a show of pretending to think about it, Caroline capitulated. "Okay, fine."

"Good."

"Great."

"So I'll see you later." Tyler said, walking backwards as he spoke.

She nodded with a smile and watched as he disappeared into an office before turning on her heel and continuing down the hall. This was a perfect turn of events. She could think more about her date for drinks with Tyler and less about Klaus fucking some random woman on his kitchen counter. Caroline had barely sat back at her desk when Klaus called her into his office. She strolled in and stood in front of his desk, waiting to be given directives.

"I need you to book two tickets to London for this weekend."

Caroline ran through her mental calendar and asked, "Are you going to your mother's gala?" The event was this coming Friday and Elijah had already called twice enquiring about Klaus' lack of RSVP.

"Well a certain someone convinced me it might be worthwhile."

Caroline smiled, inexplicably delighted that he had taken her advice from the other night. "I'll RSVP and book the flight. And the second ticket…" she said, wondering which floozy would be accompanying him to his mother's event. Martina was foremost in her mind and probably in his as well.

"It's yours." Klaus said as if it should have been obvious.

"Mine?" Caroline asked, puzzled.

"Yes, yours. It was, after all, your idea for me to suffer through this sham of an event. And there's no sense in wasting the trip. I've got a few business associates I'd like to meet with while I'm there and you'll be useful to have on hand."

"Okay." Caroline said with a grin, backing out of the room before he could change his mind.

Klaus watched her leave with a smile. The truth was, he had no real need for a PA on this trip but Caroline wanted to see the world and he was in a position to show her. Not to mention, she'd make for a nice distraction from the pains of having to interact with his parents.

Caroline, still giddy from the news that she'd be going to London this weekend, handled all the arrangements before returning to her work. She was still grinning like a lunatic when she heard Jenna calling her name from the front desk. Walking over to her, she found Tyler standing there giving Jenna a frustrated look.

"You have a visitor." Jenna said with a smile, completely unfazed by Tyler's glare.

He looked up at Caroline and grinned. "I didn't want to risk you disappearing on me again so I thought I'd meet you at your desk. Or I would have if she'd only let me pass." He said, looking at Jenna again who just smiled in return.

"Oh." Caroline looked down at her watch which read 6:27. She liked to stay until Klaus left but she was technically free to go after 6 and since Tyler was already here, she said "I'll just grab my things."

She was lifted her purse from her desk and went into Klaus' office to let him know she was leaving. Before she could say anything, he looked past her and out at Tyler who stood waiting by Jenna's desk. "What're you doing with Tyler Lockwood?"

Caroline shot him a confused look before glancing over her shoulder at Tyler and then back at Klaus. "We're going out for drinks."

"You're going for drinks with Tyler Lockwood?" Klaus felt his face tighten and it took him a moment to place the foreign sensation gripping him as jealousy.

"Is that a problem?"

"Tyler Lockwood only got this job because I did business with his father. He's a self-entitled trust fund kid."

"You're a self-entitled trust fund kid." Caroline bit back with a smile.

"Are you saying you're looking for someone like me?" He smirked.

Her cheeks flushed and she shook her head, "I'm saying goodnight, Klaus."

He watched her leave and growled when Tyler put his hand on Caroline's elbow to lead her down the hall. Klaus didn't turn his head until the two were out of sight. Logically, he knew he had no grounds to be upset. It wasn't as if his sex life had been put on hold while he waited around for Caroline to act on the chemistry between them. Logically, he knew she had every right to have drinks with whomever she pleased. He was in no position to occupy the moral high ground. But, for the first time he could remember, logic was failing him because he was absolutely livid at the thought of Tyler and Caroline together. After seething for a few minutes, Klaus decided he'd go for drinks as well. And he wouldn't be alone. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he flipped idly through the numbers.

Klaus waited until a husky voice came through the phone before speaking.

"Hello, love."

* * *

**Like I said - short, boring filler chapter but original family goodness in the next one. **


	5. Chapter 5

"Come now Caroline, you aren't still upset?"

Klaus settled into his first class seat beside his P.A. All things considered, this was a fine morning.

Caroline strategically avoided meeting Klaus' eyes as she fastened her seatbelt. "Upset? Because you crashed my date with Tyler? Or because you brought some floozy with the emotional depth of a twelve year old girl along with you? Why would that be upsetting?" She turned to shoot him a sarcastic smile.

Klaus just threw her an easy grin in return. In his defense, Tyler hadn't made it all that hard to find them after he'd escorted her out of the building the other night. The younger man completely lacked originality and had taken her to Belhemanns, a popular after-hours hub for Wall Street execs. There was no doubt in Klaus' mind that he could do better – arguably he was already doing better. Tyler had taken her out for drinks with his co-workers; Klaus could, and would, show her the world.

"So where do you want to go first? The London Eye? Big Ben?" He asked with a smirk and Caroline couldn't stay mad, if for no other reason than they had a seven hour flight together and he'd only persist in teasing her until she responded.

"I thought this was supposed to be a working trip." She asked, turning her head to look at him.

Klaus broke out into a slow smile, pleased that she had already forgotten his earlier transgressions. "I'm a huge advocate of mixing business and pleasure." He watched her closely to gauge her reaction to his words.

"I don't doubt it." Caroline said, turning again in her seat to avoid his probing stare. The man could charm the habit off a nun if he put his mind to it. It was a shame he had the attention span of a goldfish when it came to women. She reminded herself of how he'd been with Martina that morning but had shown up to Belhemanns that night with Clarisse. She knew first hand that his 'little black book' was a hundred page document and Caroline could only imagine how many of those had been the mixing of business with pleasure.

The plane was up in the air before Caroline spoke again, banishing the thoughts of the other night from her mind. "So tell me about your family. I've already met Elijah so start with your other siblings."

"There isn't much to tell." Klaus replied. "Rebecca's a spoiled heiress, Kol's a shameless philanderer, and Finn's severely lacking in personality."

Caroline snorted out a laugh. "Wow, such ringing endorsements for your siblings."

"What can I say? We Mikaelsons are quite the clan." He smiled and she could see the affection he held for his siblings in his eyes.

"And what about your parents?"

The smile fell from Klaus' face and he turned to face forward again. Caroline knew his relationship with his parents was strained but he never talked about them so she didn't know why. As his employee, it really was none of her business but as his friend – and Caroline did consider them friends in a way –she wanted to know what had caused the rift between him and his parents.

"Like I said, we're quite the clan." Klaus replied and it was clear that the subject wasn't really up for discussion.

"Well can you at least tell me about the place where you grew up?" Caroline asked. Maybe she was being nosy but she was about to dive head first into a side of his life she was completely unfamiliar with and she wanted to know things beforehand.

Klaus just smiled. "I've got a better idea. Why don't _you_ tell me about where _you_ grew up? You're going to my childhood home so it's only fair."

Caroline let out an agitated huff, feigning frustration, but in reality she loved talking about Mystic Falls. Yeah she had left to see the world but it was still her hometown and she still got that fuzzy feeling in her stomach when she thought about it. So she told him about her mom and the spirit squad and the Miss Mystic Falls pageants. She even told him about Matt.

Klaus found it disturbingly easy to listen to Caroline ramble on. He wasn't really one to listen to others go on and on about their own lives but he genuinely wanted Caroline to keep talking. He wanted to know everything. Listening to her was the easy part. The hard part came when she wore herself out and fell asleep. Her head dropped onto his shoulder, her silky hair tickling his neck. Klaus had never been so still in his life, afraid the slightest movement would wake her up. Her coral lips parted to form a perfect little O and each breath would pull loose strands of her golden hair to her mouth before blowing them back again. The urge to lean down and kiss those pliant lips was strong but Klaus occupied his mind with mundane thoughts. If he did kiss her while she slept, Caroline would most likely have a fit. She'd probably even slap him right there. Klaus found himself smirking at the thought and even considered kissing her just to see that fiery anger light up her eyes. But again he changed his mind because when he did kiss her for the first time, and he liked to hold out hope that they'd be doing a lot more than just that one day, he wanted her to be completely aware of just how explosive the chemistry between them was.

When the plane finally landed in Heathrow, Caroline's head shot off his shoulder and she turned to shoot him a sheepish look.

"I'm sorry about that." She muttered, gesturing to his shoulder.

"You can have the exclusive use of my shoulder anytime." Klaus replied with a slow grin. "If you want, you can have exclusive use of the rest of my body as well."

She rolled her eyes and turned forward as the pilot began reciting the rules for leaving the plane.

Caroline spent the majority of the car ride responding to calls she had missed during the flight and confirming the itinerary for the trip. Their time in London would be brief. They'd spend tonight with his family and tomorrow he had two meetings and a phone conference. Then the gala that night and the flight back to New York Saturday morning. By the time she looked up, the car was pulling into a long, winding driveway. Her brain registered that her mouth was hanging open but there was nothing she could do about it.

"It's," Caroline continued to gawk as she searched for the right word to describe what she was seeing, "palatial".

The Georgian style house (and Caroline felt ridiculous referring to this towering mansion as simply a house) was surrounded by greenery that obscured parts of the house from view. Klaus watched Caroline take the place in, shaking his head in amusement. The Mikaelson estate was admittedly impressive but he could never look at it the way an outsider did. This place held too many memories, most of which he adamantly avoided reliving. The car had barely slowed to a stop when Caroline leapt out, spinning in circles in an attempt to take in as much as she could. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she really admired Klaus for leaving this all behind and insisting on making his own fortune. If she'd been born into this, she'd never have left.

They made their way up the front steps but the door opened before they could reach and a body whizzed past Caroline and barreled into Klaus' arms. For a split second she felt a hint of disgust at one of his harem girls coming here to greet him but recognition settled in and she realized it was his sister.

"Nik!" The blonde shouted as she released her brother from her grip and backed up to smile up at him.

Those two had always been the closest of the five siblings but Klaus spent very little time in London and Rebekah couldn't imagine living anywhere else so the two rarely got to see each other. Rebekah raced back up the stairs with Klaus and Caroline in tow. They stepped into the foyer and again Caroline had to make a conscious effort to keep from gaping like a fool.

A dark haired man strolled down the stairs with a roguish grin on his handsome face. "Ah, the prodigal son returns." Kol gave his brother a clap on the back before turning to face Caroline, his smile turning salacious. "And where, pray tell, have you been hiding this one?"

Any happiness Klaus felt at seeing his younger brother fled in that moment and he scowled at Kol who hardly noticed because he was too busy staring at the hot little piece his brother had brought along. Klaus knew he should have anticipated this. He may be a bit of a playboy but Kol was tenfold that and there was no chance he'd be living him alone with Caroline.

"Where's mother?" Klaus asked, subtly stepping between his brother and Caroline.

"Out being a slave-driver as per usual." Rebekah responded with an eye roll. "If the orchids aren't placed just so the entire night will fall apart."

Kol leaned a little to the side to peek around his brother at Caroline. "Klaus you've forgotten your manners. Won't you introduce us?" He asked, moving to step around his brother.

Klaus, forgoing subtlety this time, placed a firm hand on Kol's chest and pushed him back. "Kol, Rebekah, this is Caroline my personal assistant."

She gave a small wave and Kol smirked at her while Rebekah shot her a look of pure disinterest.

"You brought along the help?" Rebekah asked, turning back to her brother.

He shot her a snide look before turning back to Caroline. "Come on, I'll show you your room." He placed a hand on her back and led her towards the dazzling, winding staircase. "Make yourself useful and have the bags brought in." He tossed over his shoulder at Kol.

Klaus led her to one of the house's many guest-rooms and Caroline turned to thank him when a man who reminded her of cartoon butlers walked in and placed her bag on the floor. As soon as the man left, Caroline made her way over to the door as well.

"Where are you going?" Klaus asked, following her out.

"I've only got two days here." She said, turning to face him. "I want to make the most of it. You didn't need me did you?"

"Stay for dinner." He replied. Klaus didn't _need_ her but he'd certainly _like_ for her to stay.

Caroline scrunched up her nose and shook her head. "Rebekah was right, I'm technically the help and it would just be weird. Besides, you need this time alone with your family."

Klaus really didn't like the way she referred to herself as 'the help.' Sure she was technically his employee but after these past few months it seemed almost silly to refer to Caroline as just an employee. She basically ran his life for him these days. "Aren't you jetlagged?" He asked.

"I'm too excited to be tired." She beamed up at him and Klaus found himself already contemplating ways to keep her smiling like that all the time.

"I don't relish the idea of you wandering around an unfamiliar city by yourself." Klaus said with a frown.

Caroline just shook her head, smile still in place. "I think I can handle it."

He walked her to the front door after insisting that she take the town car instead of hailing a cab like she had originally intended. At least this way he'd know where she was. Once Caroline was gone, he sought out Rebekah. For all his lone wolf bravado, Klaus truly did miss spending time with his sister and seeing as how he wouldn't be making the trip out here again anytime soon, he wanted to spend as much time with her as he could.

They talked, or rather Rebekah talked and Klaus dutifully listened, for over an hour before being summoned to dinner.

It had been years since Klaus had moved out of the family home and he recalled how he used to loathe family dinners. The dining room table was just another place for Mikael to stress the fact that Klaus was the black sheep of the family and no child of his. But he had become a man in his own right, a powerful one at that, and now the thought of a family dinner bored him more than it aggravated him. The family gathered together, Mikael at one end of the table and Esther at the other, with Klaus, his siblings, and Sage – his sister in law- dispersed throughout the middle.

Dinner had just been served when his mother started in on one of her favorite topics. "When can I expect some grandchildren?" Esther asked, turning to Finn and Sage. "A woman can only be expected to wait for so long before she begins to lose hope."

"Don't be so down, mother," Klaus grinned, "I'm sure Kol's fathered a number of illegitimate children."

Kol just smirked in return. "It's probably true. What can I say, I'm a virile man."

"You're vile." Rebekah scoffed.

"I've been called worse." Kol said with a shrug before turning to his mother with the sole intent of stirring up trouble. "If you wanted grandchildren so badly, perhaps you shouldn't have run Katherine off."

The room fell silent and Mikael shot his youngest son a glare. Katherine Pierce was Elijah's ex-fiancée and while Klaus hadn't been present for the demise of their relationship, he knew from Rebekah that their mother had a substantial role to play in it. Elijah himself never talked about it, and even now avoided all the eyes on him in favor of adjusting his napkin before saying "I'm sure we can move on mannered subjects."

Sage spoke up to break the tense silence and things settled onto an even keel. But of course, the peace was short lived because no Mikaelson family dinner was complete without at least one or two hiccups. Elijah and Klaus were talking business when Mikael overheard the mention of Klaus' firm and chose that precise moment to butt in.

"Ah yes, your little side project. How is that going?" He asked, turning his patronizing smirk on Klaus.

"You mean my multi-billion dollar side project? It's doing splendid." He replied, unfazed by his step-father's clear distaste. Mikael could laugh in the face of Klaus' side ventures all he wanted but the truth was, he was the family's only real success story. Albeit, Elijah ran the family company well enough but that had been all but handed to him on a silver platter. Finn had a degree from Cambridge but really preferred to just rest on his laurel. Kol did more damage to the family name than he did good and Rebekah was still young and only interested in having a good time. So Klaus may be no child of Mikael's but he was certainly the pride and joy of his mother's children.

Before Mikael could continue, Elijah interrupted – knowing the signs of a true battle brewing and when to intervene. If Mikael was at all enraged over Klaus' retort he didn't let it show and Klaus showed his stepfather the same courtesy of ignoring him. One night had passed safely, only twenty-four more hours to go.

* * *

Parents loved Caroline. What could she say?, she was somewhat of a parent whisperer. And this seemed to hold true with Esther. Caroline woke up the next morning, bright and early as usual, and went in search of breakfast- thinking she could rendezvous with Klaus, send him off to his meetings and then spend the rest of the day exploring as much of London as she could. After she showered and dressed, she found Esther eating alone in the dining room.

Her first impression of the woman was that she was austere. She kind of reminded Caroline of regal women she'd seen in historical films. Before Caroline could decide if she should slip away quietly or join her, Esther looked up and beckoned her into the room.

As she took a seat by Esther, she held out her hand. "We haven't met. I'm Caroline."

The older woman smiled, shaking her hand. "Yes, Elijah tells me you're Niklaus' personal assistant." She gestured to the breakfasts foods laid out and Caroline helped herself.

"I am." She replied with a nod.

Esther just watched her for a moment before speaking again. "Elijah was worried but I think this is good. My son, he needs guidance. And a positive female influence around him."

Caroline was equal parts confused and flattered but she took the compliment with grace anyway. As they ate the two women talked congenially and Caroline couldn't help but wonder again what is what that caused the rift between Klaus and his mother. Not only was she not evil, the woman was downright pleasant. No sooner had Klaus crossed her mind than the man himself came strolling into the dining, his eyes darting between his mother and Caroline.

"Good morning, mother. Caroline." Klaus nodded at the two before taking a seat across from Caroline. "I see you two have been getting to know each other." He shot Caroline an inquiring look and she just shrugged lightly in return.

"Niklaus it's lucky you brought Caroline along. I'm swamped with all the last minute details for the gala and I can use the extra hands."

Klaus broke his stare down with Caroline to turn to his mother. "I'm afraid that won't be possible."

"Why not? You said yourself you're tied up in meetings all day. So she's free."

"She has previous engagements."

'She' was sitting right there and was perfectly capable of speaking for herself. "It's fine," Caroline jumped in. She had been planning on spending the day seeing London and Klaus had known that, hence the previous engagements, but this was after all her job and she couldn't very well treat this entire trip like a paid vacation.

Klaus didn't get the chance to argue any further with his mother because her phone rang and she answered it, sweeping out of the room like the stately blueblood she was.

He turned to lock his eyes on Caroline again. "May I ask why you're having breakfast with my mother?"

"She's really nice," was Caroline's nonchalant reply.

"Don't be fooled." Klaus said, his face lightening into a smile. "My mother, though I love her, is a manipulative wench. It's where Elijah and I get our cunning business acumen; you'll do well to remember that. That woman is playing chess while we're all playing checkers."

"Careful Klaus, you keep worrying about me like this and I'll start to think you really care." Caroline teased with a smile and Klaus shot her a mocking look.

"And what happened to making the most of your two days here."

"This is my job. Besides, if you'll remember, I'm pretty much a pro at party planning." She popped a strawberry into her mouth and Klaus watched a drop of juice fall from her coral lips and trail down her chin before she brought her thumb up to wipe it away.

Watching Caroline eat was a bizarre fascination of his lately. But watching Caroline do just about anything enthralled Klaus so he supposed it wasn't that bizarre after all.

"You should go." Caroline said, glancing down at her watch. "Do you need me to call the car around? You're going to be late."

Klaus just smirked, standing from his chair and straightening his suit. "I'm the life of the party, they won't start without me."

Caroline just rolled her eyes. Why did she bother meticulously planning his schedule when he still insisted on swanning in and out of meetings when he damn well pleased. He'd been gone for barely ten minutes when Esther returned and whisked Caroline away with her. As she had pointed out to Klaus, the event planning skills Caroline had acquired working for Lynda came in handy throughout the day as she assisted Esther. Rebekah hadn't been kidding when she called her mother a slave-driver. Esther held high expectations and was ruthless in getting what she wanted. Caroline wasn't sure whether she should admire her or fear her. Finally evening rolled around and Caroline returned to the Mikaelson estate to change for the gala. She hadn't originally intended to go but Esther insisted that she borrow a dress from Rebekah and attend the event, if for no other reason than it'd be nice to have her on hand should anything go wrong. And after spending a day in Esther's intimidating presence, Caroline certainly hoped nothing went wrong.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed. **

* * *

Like every other girl, at some point when she was little, Caroline dreamed of being a princess. She fantasized about balls with women in lavish gowns and men in classic tuxes. And her life right now was strangely close to making her childhood fantasies a reality – or at least a temporary reality.

Caroline spun in front of the full length mirror, admiring herself.

"Remind me again why I'm loaning out a quarter million dollar Valentino one of a kind dress?" Rebekah's voice sounded from behind her and Caroline turned again to face Klaus' sister.

She shot the other girl a warm smile. "I guess I'm going to the gala. Your mother insisted."

"If she hadn't, I would have." Klaus strolled into the room unannounced. He didn't know what the importance of a Valentino one of a kind was but he did know Caroline looked stunning in it.

The peach dress perfectly complimented her skin tone, seemingly making her skin glow. Modest in the front, the dress had an elegant square neckline that revealed just a tantalizing bit of the curve of her breasts but when she turned Klaus was treated to a ton of creamy, bare flesh. The back dipped dangerously low, revealing a smooth back and for a moment Klaus indulged himself with a vivid image of trailing kisses down that slender back to the very top of her curvy ass where the fabric returned. Before he could find himself hardening at the thought, Klaus moved on, trailing his eyes further down. The form fitting fabric molded perfectly to her curves before gently flaring out in what he knew (from Rebekah) was a mermaid style dress. Her hair was up in a chignon that left her elegant neck bare.

"You look stunning." Klaus said reverently, stepping closer to Caroline.

She threw him a wide grin. "You're not so bad yourself," Caroline said, taking in the sight of him in what had to be an incredibly expensive tuxedo.

In his tux and bowtie, Klaus reminded Caroline of the first time they met. Back when he was just another smug, elitist, womanizer in the crowd of one percenters (as Caroline liked to refer to the group of snobs she serviced regularly). Of course he was still smug, still an elitist, and still a womanizer but Caroline knew now that he was also brilliant, resilient, attentive, witty – the list could go on and on.

"Are you ready, love?" Klaus asked and Caroline felt a corresponding slight shiver tremble down her back at the pet name.

Part of remembering that first night they met meant recalling the undeniable electricity that had sizzled between them. Before they were employee and boss. She remembered how he had pursued her around the party. How he had pinned her against the wall- had leaned in to almost brush their lips together before Lynda interrupted and fired her ass for fraternizing with a guest.

And before she could stop herself, Caroline was thinking of what could have been if Lynda hadn't caught them when she did. Klaus would have kissed her, she knew. And despite her prickly attitude she would have let him. Caroline knew they wouldn't have slept together that same night, she had too much class for that, but it would have happened eventually. A week or two and he would have wooed her into his bed like he did all the other Martinas and Claras and Hannahs that fell under his charm. And then their whirlwind fling would have come to an end, like they all did with Klaus.

And that glimpse into the future of what could have been was the very reason Caroline stifled that electricity every day. It hadn't disappeared just because he was her boss now. If anything, it got a little bit stronger with each passing day. The more she began to see him, the more she began to know him, to understand him, the closer she came to falling for it all. With each passing day she fell a little more and with each passing day, she had more to lose by doing so. Because Caroline liked her job and if she was being perfectly honest – no one could do her job quite like her. She could read his mood by the way he entered a room, could predict what he'd ask for before he even asked. Caroline could pick up on the jokes people rarely realized he was making and could tell when he was being gravely serious. She could tell when he wanted her company and could understand when he needed to be alone. Caroline supposed anyone could handle the administrative stuff but no one would ever get the little things right the way she did.

The sound of Klaus coughing pulled Caroline from her thoughts.

"Yes, I'm ready." She answered his earlier question.

Klaus shot her a crooked half smile, bending his arm and holding it out to her. She returned his smile with a grin of her own and slid her arm into his. Before he could escort her from the room, Caroline spun to face Rebekah again.

"Aren't you coming?"

Rebekah shot Caroline a dismissive look before turning back to her vanity mirror. "With you two? I prefer to make a solo entrance."

"Bekah fancies herself somewhat of a celebutante." Klaus said with a smirk.

Without looking away from the mirror, his sister raised a hand to flip him off.

"Shall we?" Klaus turned to ask Caroline, gesturing in front of them.

When they stepped outside Caroline expected to see one of those town cars that carted the Mikaelson family around waiting but in its place sat an impossibly sleek silver car. Caroline felt her breath catch in her throat and for a moment honestly considered the possibility that she might be having an orgasm.

"Is that an Aston Martin One-77?" She breathed out unable to tear her eyes from the car.

Klaus' eyebrows rose in shock and he stared at Caroline who was too busy admiring the car to notice. "You could tell the exact make and model from over here?" He asked, pleasantly surprised by this new layer to Caroline. She never failed to fascinate him.

"Are you kidding me?" She asked, finally looking away from the car to glance at him only to turn her gaze immediately back to the car. "0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds, 750hp engine, it can go more than 200 mph. I've never even see an Aston Marin in real life let alone a One-77 but I'd know this car anywhere."

Klaus found himself grinning at her pure unbridled joy. "Well she needed to get some air so I thought we'd drive to the gala."

Caroline whipped her head to the side to stare wide eyed at him. "You want me to get in that car? I'm going to be riding in that car?"

Had he known she'd react like this, Klaus would have whipped it out sooner. Hell he'd have walked her through his entire car collection back in New York if he'd thought she'd be the least bit interested. He walked her down the stairs and to the car, restraining a laugh at the look of bliss on her face as she sunk into the leather seat.

Once he was situated behind the wheel and they were driving down the street, Klaus asked, "So I take it you're a bit of a car fanatic."

Caroline turned her full watt smile on him and Klaus had to remind himself to keep his eyes on the road. "Yeah. My dad always wanted a son and when they had me I think he was hoping I'd turn out to be a tomboy. Well I never got into sports or anything like that but when it came to cars…" she smiled to herself as she thought back on her dad taking her to car shows when she was little, quizzing her on all the specs.

Before Klaus had a chance to respond, Caroline's phone buzzed. She quickly read the text sent by Esther's event coordinator and Caroline recalled that, despite what it seemed like, this wasn't a fairytale and she had a job to do.

"I have to check on the items up for silent auction. And there's apparently an issue with some members of the catering staff."

Klaus turned to smirk at her. "Do you ever stop working?" He asked teasingly.

"You're one to talk. You basically define the word workaholic." Caroline scoffed.

Klaus nodded in agreement. "Perhaps but I know when to pause and enjoy a beautiful thing."

Caroline felt the way his eyes roved over her and thrilling sparks shot down her back.

"I don't think your mother believes in taking a pause. The woman is a non-stop force." She said, trying to keep the effect he had on her out of her voice.

He responded with a light chuckle. "True but you don't work for my mother. You work for me." Klaus reminded her.

Caroline cocked her head and ruminated on the truth of that statement. She had spent the day running herself ragged getting things done for a woman who she technically didn't even work for. But she was technically here on business and if Klaus didn't need her she couldn't very well complain about his mother commandeering her services. Besides, it wasn't as if Esther had given her much of a choice.

Rather than explain all this to Klaus she said, "well your mother's nice. I'm happy to help."

"We've been over this Caroline, my mother is many things but 'nice' is not one of them."

Caroline tilted her head and fixed an inquisitive stare on him. After a moment of silence she said, "you know, you never told me why your relationship with your parents is strained."

"I know." Klaus said and the tone in his voice made it clear he wasn't going to elaborate further.

Even if she had wanted to, Caroline didn't have much time to quiz him on it because they arrived at the Montcalm Hotel where the ballroom was. Taking her arm in his again, Klaus led Caroline into the ballroom. When she had left a few hours ago, Esther's teams had been putting the finishing touches on the event but the gala was in full swing now and the ballroom was full of ladies in pearls and gentleman with coiffed hair.

"I suppose I should find your mother." Caroline said after surveying the room.

Knowing there'd be no point in arguing, and realizing that if she didn't find his mother his mother would certainly find her, Klaus nodded his acquiescence and released his hold on her arm. He watched Caroline dart off – no doubt to a flower arrangement that needed fixing or to a caterer that needed scolding. He'd been there for only a moment before Elijah appeared by his side.

"Niklaus, nice of you to finally make an appearance, there are a few people who are interested in meeting you."

Klaus fell into step beside his brother. "The night's only just begun and already you're trotting me out to your associates."

Elijah linked his hands behind his back as they walked. "Perhaps if you didn't make yourself so scarce here, people wouldn't be so eager to finally meet you and solve the mystery."

"It's no mystery- just complete and utter disinterest in being fawned over by greedy people with a hand in a Mikaelson pocket."

Elijah rose one eyebrow and asked, "is this any different then the company you keep back in New York?"

Klaus just shrugged with that half smirk in place. "There's a difference between the respect one is born into and the respect one earns."

His brother didn't get a chance to respond when two white haired men appeared beside them.

"Elijah." The taller man shook his hand before turning to Klaus.

"Charles, this is my brother Niklaus."

The man nodded his head, a grin working its way onto his face. "I've heard great things."

"Then you've been talking to liars." Klaus replied with a smirk and the man let out a laugh.

"Charles sits on our board." Elijah explained to Klaus.

The other white haired men who had been silent up until this point spoke up. "Which you would know, if you ever deemed it worth your time to attend a board meeting." He said snidely.

Klaus, unfazed by the remark, turned to fix his smug stare on the man. "I prefer a more hands off approach to my involvement in the company." Klaus hadn't asked for, needed or wanted his share of the company but his mother insisted that he remain a stakeholder in the family business so while Klaus held percentage enough to warrant a seat on the board, it was not a role he had any interest in filling. Elijah had tried many times to coerce Klaus into taking an active role on the board but his answer was always the same – he voted however Elijah voted, no further involvement necessary. After all, he had his own company to run and it might not be a global empire but it was wildly successful, incredibly profitable and most importantly all his.

With a final smirk at the shorter man, Klaus strolled off, lifting a flute of champagne from a waiter as he passed. The night wore on and Klaus found himself growing impatient for the event to end. He refrained from rolling his eyes at the socialite, one of Rebekah's friends, attempting to reel him in with what she must have thought was a sultry tone. Klaus caught sight of Caroline darting through the crowd and quickly excused himself, easing his way through the throng of people in pursuit of her. He smiled to himself, remembering how he had been in this exact situation months ago when he first met her.

Caroline had been on her way to track down Rebekah at Esther's request when a hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist. She spun, prepared to ward off the advance of yet another creep, and was met with Klaus' crooked half smile.

"Care to dance?" He asked, already pulling her toward the dance floor.

For a moment Caroline considered protesting but quickly decided that after a night racing around helping things go smoothly, she deserved a dance or two.

"You're really good at this." Klaus said as they moved across the floor.

Caroline shot him a proud smile. "I may have taken a lesson or two."

"First cars now ballroom dancing. Is there anything you aren't well versed in Caroline Forbes?"

She pretended to think about it before shaking her head no. "Nothing comes to mind."

Klaus laughed and spun her around before pulling her back into his arms. They danced for two more songs before Kol appeared and waved his hand between the two.

"May I cut in?" He asked, grinning playfully at Caroline.

"No." Klaus said, throwing his younger brother a glare.

Kol put a hand to his chest and feigned hurt. "Always so unwilling to share, Niklaus."

He was about to respond when his phone rang from inside his chest pocket. He didn't have to look to know who it was. Alaric Saltzman, one of his Senior VPs, had called twice already.

Klaus shot Caroline an apologetic look. "If I don't take it, he'll keep calling."

She just smiled and waved him away. "Go ahead, I'll dance with Kol."

Klaus handed her off to his brother but not before leaning in close to Kol and whispering, "Put so much as a finger in the wrong place and I'll break it off."

His brother just threw him that careless grin before spinning Caroline away. Klaus left the ballroom and made his way down the lavish hotel hallway. When he was far enough away from the sounds of the ballroom, he pulled his phone out and dialed Alaric's number.

"What could possibly be so important that you have to call me three times on a Friday night?" He asked.

Alaric, who was eager to get on with his Friday night, cut right to the chase. "Just thought you should know, that acquisition you tossed down the ranks for your friend Stefan – it raised a few red flags."

"A few red flags?" Klaus asked, his mind racing back to the file Stefan had given him a few months back. Some failing ad agency he wanted to buy, not a project worth Klaus' time or really anyone else's so he imagined it got passed down to some rookie. Now it was being passed back up because of red flags.

"The Salvatores are millionaires. It's a failing company. This should be a done deal – where is there room for red flags?"

Alaric, who happened to be getting ready for a date and had no interest in dragging out this conversation said, "I don't know. I just thought you should know."

"And that was worth disturbing my evening?" Klaus asked.

"If I had waited 'til Monday would you have yelled at me for not telling you sooner?" Alaric asked, already knowing the answer.

Klaus stayed silent and Alaric nodded to himself, smiling.

"Goodnight, Alaric." He hung up without waiting for a response from the other man.

He was preparing to call Stefan when a voice sounded from behind him.

"Trouble in paradise?"

Klaus' jaw tensed and he turned slowly to face his father.

"Nothing I can't handle. I've been meaning to ask you, how's retirement suiting you?" He asked, his face stoic.

Mikael let out a dark laugh. "Always with the quick tongue. You must get that from your father."

"Still lashing that 'father' bit around I see. I guess it's true you can't teach an old dog new tricks."

"Watch your tongue, boy." Mikael stepped closer to Klaus, bringing them toe to toe.

Klaus stood his ground, careful to keep his face stoic. "It may have escaped your notice but I'm no boy."

Again, Mikael let out that chilling humorless laugh. "What, because you have your business? Your flashy cars? Your whores? The true test of a man is how he stands without all of that. You're nothing but a boy."

Klaus felt his fists clench and hid his arms behind his back. "I can see my success still grates your nerves." He forced a smirk.

Mikael's face turned grave and he all but growled at Klaus. "**Your **success? Built with **my **money, built on **my **last name. Everything you have, everything you are, you owe to **me**. Boy." Mikael spat before sidestepping him and walking off.

Klaus stood there for a moment seething, shoulders tensed and jaw locked. He'd left his family home a long time ago but no matter how far he ran or how long he stayed away, Klaus would never escape the legacy forced on him. He may have convinced the world but he'd never really convinced himself that Mikael wasn't right. That he was his own person- failed on his own, succeeded on his own. Because that voice, Mikael's voice, would always be in his head to remind him. The family money. The family name. A family he had never been a full blooded member of. He never really escaped it and he never would.

When he had pulled himself together enough to move, Klaus stormed back into the ballroom and over to the bar. He commandeered a bottle of Blue Label scotch from the bar, shooting the bartender a glare and stating his name (the magical last name) before walking off with it.

Almost an hour later, Elijah pulled Caroline to the side and fixed her with a serious stare. "Have you seen Niklaus?"

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head no. "Not for the past hour, why?"

Elijah gritted his teeth. "A bartender says he disappeared with a full bottle of scotch. Find him and take him home."

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked confused. So far as she knew, Klaus was perfectly capable of handling his liquor.

"Find him and take him home." Elijah repeated before strolling past Caroline. He'd seen the look of pure elation on his father's face earlier and nothing gave that man pleasure like tormenting his brother. If he wasn't so sure his mother would throw a fit, Elijah would leave to find Niklaus himself. Anyway, Niklaus may be more willing to go with the PA he was so enamored with.

After hassling various hotel staff members, Caroline found Klaus in a smaller conference room off to the side, legs thrown up on the table and head tilted back as he guzzled the amber liquid from the bottle.

"Klaus?" She asked, walking over to him and easily wrestling the bottle from his hands.

"Ah, Caroline!" He said, immediately cheering up though his eyes went in and out of focus as he tried to fix his gaze on her. "Come to join the party?"

"Party's over." Caroline said, placing the bottle down and snatching up his hand. "Come on." She yanked repeatedly until Klaus stumbled to his feet.

She moved to step toward the door but Klaus pulled her back against him. "I like pushy Caroline."

Caroline rolled her eyes, stepping back again and pulling him toward the door. "Let's go before you lose the ability to walk."

Thankfully, they made it outside without encountering anyone and as they stood on the sidewalk, Caroline turned to face Klaus. "Okay where're your keys?"

He shot her a lopsided grin but stayed silent.

"Seriously. Don't make me say it again."

He stood there and just smiled down at her.

"Fine." Caroline huffed, shoving her hands into his pant pockets. When they came up empty, she lifted her hands and slid them into his chest pockets.

Klaus grinned as he watched her search him. "You've just been looking for a reason to frisk me, haven't you Caroline?"

"You're not funny." She muttered beneath her breath, running her hands along his chest to feel for the keys before diving back into his pant pockets.

Klaus fought the urge to groan out loud. Her little hands were racking all over his body and he couldn't stop himself from imagining how this would feel if he were naked. If they were both naked. He turned his head to the side and caught the valet watching them with a confused stare. Klaus brought his index finger to his lips, letting the man know to stay quiet. If Caroline hadn't figured out that the valet had his keys then he certainly wasn't going to tell her.

Throwing her hands in the air, Caroline turned to the man standing there and put her hands on her hips. "Can you call us a car?"

The man nodded, lifting a nearby phone to his ear. She stood there, tapping her foot and glaring at a still grinning Klaus until a town car pulled around the corner. She shoved Klaus into the backseat before sliding in beside him.

The car had been easing along the empty streets for some time when Klaus scooted closer to Caroline. Before she could ask what he was doing, Klaus was burying his nose in her hair, drinking in her scent before nuzzling his face down to her neck.

"What're you doing?" Caroline asked in shock. She blamed the shock for not pushing him away. It had nothing to do with the way her nipples were hardening and her pulse was skyrocketing.

"You smell so good. You always smell so good." Klaus muttered, bringing a hand up to cup her head and pull her closer.

Coming to her senses, Caroline shoved him away. "Quit it."

He backed away but the lopsided grin fell from his face to be replaced by a contemplative stare. His hand came up to cup her cheek, the pad of his thumb stroking it repeatedly. He was silent for a moment before he said, "you're it you know. I never thought I had a feminine ideal but then you came along and you're it." He muttered as if speaking more to himself than to her. "The ideal woman." He spoke, almost reverently, like he was still in awe that such a thing existed.

For a moment or two Caroline forgot to breathe. And then the car came to a halt, jerking her from her thoughts. Turning away from Klaus, Caroline all but leapt out of the car. She stood there for a minute, struggling to collect herself, before turning back and yanking Klaus from the car.

"By the way, the valet had the keys love." Klaus said as she helped him up the stairs, all nonchalant like as if the moment in the backseat of the car hadn't just happened.

Caroline made it up the stairs and dropped him on his bed before spinning on her heel and leaving the room, convinced she couldn't get away fast enough. When she was back in the safety of her own room, Caroline locked the door before leaning back against it.

"He's drunk." She whispered to the empty room. "He didn't mean it, he's just drunk."

Caroline spent the night repeating this mantra to herself but part of her, a bigger part than she wanted to acknowledge, wanted him to mean it. She wanted to wake up tomorrow morning and have him whisper those sweet things to her again, sober. Caroline wanted that with a ferocity that scared her a little. It was hours before she was able to fall asleep and when she woke up the early the next morning, Caroline focused on getting everything in order for their flight that morning.

When everything was set, she went downstairs to the dining room and found Esther having breakfast alone again. For a woman who had five children, she dined alone a lot.

"Caroline," Esther beckoned her in and Caroline took a seat beside the woman. "You were such a great help yesterday, thank you."

"It was my pleasure." She replied, reaching to put some food on a plate.

Once she had tucked into her breakfast, Esther fixed a stare on her. "Caroline dear, I would love it if we could keep in contact. Klaus so rarely confides in me and a mother never stops worrying."

"Oh of course Mrs. Mikaelson." She responded with a smile.

Esther nodded, placing a hand on Caroline's. "I mean it dear. I trust I can count on you to be my eyes and ears, so to speak."

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows and threw the older woman a confused look, reaching for her glass.

"You would of course be compensated for your troubles."

She almost coughed up orange juice, turning to Esther with an incredulous stare. "Just so we're clear, you aren't asking me to spy on your son for you, right?"

The smile fell from her face for just a moment before the façade was back in place, this time with a hint of malice beneath her falsely reassuring stare. "Of course not."

Thankfully Caroline was spared from having to respond when Kol and Rebekah entered the dining room, bickering. She excused herself quickly and darted out to the hallway, intending to go wake up Klaus when he came strolling down the stairs.

Clad in a Henley shirt and black jeans, his hair still wet from his shower, Klaus didn't look the least bit like someone who had polished off half a bottle of scotch the night before. Without realizing it, Caroline held her breath, waiting to see what he would say, waiting to see if he would remember last night.

"Are you ready to go?"

And the breath whooshed right out of Caroline. That was it. That was all. 'Are you ready to go?' She scolded herself for even getting her hopes up. He was drunk and incoherent and here she was like a schoolgirl with a crush hoping he'd remember a ten second moment they had shared that probably meant next to nothing to him. Fixing her face into a smile before he could suspect anything was wrong, Caroline nodded. "All set."

"Perfect."

Klaus waited for Elijah and Finn to come down before they said their goodbyes and walked out of the house. The Aston Martin sat there in the gleaming sunlight and Caroline turned to Klaus. "I see your car made it back."

It was the first time she had referenced the night before and she watched him closely to see if there was any sign of recognition in his eyes.

"It did." He nodded before tossing her the keys.

"What are you doing?" She asked, looking down at the keys in her hand.

Klaus threw her his patent smirk. "You're driving us to the airport."

"You're kidding." Caroline said, looking from him to the car and back again.

He shook his head, jogging down the steps and climbing in the passenger seat. Caroline looked at the keys dangling in her hand and couldn't contain her smile. With a heavy breath, she decided that it was for the best if Klaus didn't remember the things he had said last night. She had the coolest boss in the world and there was no sense in risking that. They worked well together the way things were and it was probably better that that didn't change.


	7. Chapter 7

**Do I have to forewarn the Forwood? Because it's taking off in this chapter. Yes this is a Klaroline story but if Klaus doesn't have a worthwhile opponent then how is he supposed to fight for Caroline?**

* * *

"Caroline, could you come in here please."

Glancing up from the papers she'd been sorting, Caroline stood from her chair and sauntered into Klaus' office. She watched him tapping away incessantly at his computer, content to wait despite the fact that he had just summoned her. He did this often when he was engrossed in his work but she didn't mind. Caroline actually liked watching Klaus work. He got this intent look on his face and would often dip his head, providing her with a stunning view of his profile. Not that Caroline should be contemplating how stunning his face was. That way of thinking could only lead to complications.

After another second of silence, Klaus finally looked up at her and spoke. "I need you to stay late today and take notes on the Tokyo conference call for me."

Wrinkling her nose, Caroline paused for a moment before responding. "Any chance you could get by without me?" When she'd first started Caroline probably would have felt uncomfortable making such a request but she and Klaus were pretty close now and it wasn't as if she was slacking in her job just because they'd become friends. Caroline loved working and she worked hard but she already had plans in place for the night and frankly considering how hectic the past week had been she deserved a night off. She briefly considered suggesting he take one off as well but Caroline knew Klaus too well to think that he'd want to take a night off. He loved playing the stock market and he even did it in his free time so a night off wasn't really a concept Klaus was familiar with.

Klaus furrowed his eyebrows, watching Caroline standing in the doorway. Technically, he could very easily get by without her on this conference call. In fact, he only suggested she stay because he had overheard (not eavesdropping, simply overheard) Caroline telling Jenna making her rent this month might be a tight squeeze. His first instinct had been to offer to pay it for her (Klaus tried not to dwell on the fact that he had never so much as considered doing such a thing for any other member of his staff, that it crossed a number of lines between employer and employee, and shoved away thoughts of what his overwhelming instinct to help Caroline might mean) but he knew her well enough to know she'd be too proud to accept. Klaus asked her to stay late because he usually tacked on a hefty addition to her paycheck when she worked late nights and it was clear she needed the extra cash. Plus, if he was being honest with himself, Klaus rather enjoyed their late nights in the office together. He had thought she did too. Unless her reluctance to work late tonight had something to do with his moment of weakness in the back of the cab a week ago in London.

He'd been obscenely drunk but Klaus remembered, in vivid detail, every moment of that night. He remembered how amazing her hands had felt on him when she searched for her keys. He remembered how delicious she had smelled in the back of the car. And he remembered his inability to keep his inappropriate thoughts to himself. _The ideal woman_. Klaus knew he had meant it – he just didn't know why he had said it. He also remembered how quickly she had scurried out of the vehicle, as if just the thought of the two of them together was enough to send her running for the hills. Not that he blamed her. She worked for him which meant she probably felt uncomfortable turning him down flat. After all, he technically held her job security in his hands – not that Klaus would ever consider firing her just because she rejected his advances. Either way given the power disparity in their work relationship, it had been unfair of him to put her in that position. She'd made it clear the night they met that she wasn't interested. Or rather, didn't _want _to be interested (because Klaus refused to believe that the burning chemistry between them was one-sided).

So he had backed off, continuing on the next morning as if nothing had happened. And when Caroline didn't bring it up he simply followed suit – assuming there was a silent agreement between them to simply bury the memories of his drunken faux pas for the sake of maintaining the working friendship they had built. But apparently it was too late and now look what he had done. Caroline was afraid to stay late at the office with him.

"Any reason you can't work tonight?" Klaus asked, raising an eyebrow. He wouldn't force her to stay but he was curious to see what excuse she laid on him.

Caroline bit on her lower lip, contemplating whether or not she should tell the truth or craft some lie. Deciding he'd find out the truth eventually, she quickly chose to be honest. "I have a date. With Tyler." She said slowly, watching his reaction carefully.

Klaus' jaw locked and his eyes narrowed. A date with Tyler Lockwood. On the one hand, he was relieved to know that that night in the cab wasn't the reason behind her choice not to stay and his behavior that night hadn't drastically altered their relationship. But on the other hand, the thought of her out with Tyler made him absolutely livid. Before he could stop it, the images were racing through his mind. Would he try to kiss her at the end of the night? Would he try for more than just that? Klaus fought the urge to clench his fists and struggled to reign in his fury. With a herculean amount of effort, he forced a careless smirk.

"The Lockwood boy is still sniffing around you then?" He asked, struggling to keep his tone light.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "He's nice."

_And I'm not?_ Klaus couldn't help but think to himself.

"I don't trust him with you." He said, his eyes still locked on Caroline.

"Well, it's not really your call to make." She replied with a shrug.

"I could force you to stay." Klaus pointed out.

"I could refuse." She shot back quickly.

"I could fire you." They both knew the threat was empty.

Caroline put a hand on her hip and cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? Do you know where your dry cleaners is? Do you know the meticulous system your files are stored by? Can you run your own events calendar? Yeah, no you're not going to fire me." She said with a teasing smile on her face.

Klaus felt his anger slip away at the sight of that infectious smile. "Need I remind you, I got along just fine before you." He pointed out.

She just laughed. A tinkling sound that was like music to his ears. "Yeah but now that you've had me there's no going back."

Klaus just shook his head. She had no idea how right she was. There was no going back from Caroline.

With a dramatic sigh and a wave of his hand, Klaus said "You've made your point. Don't worry, I can handle the conference call alone. Believe it or not there are some things I can still do on my own."

She just grinned, spinning on her heel. Before she was out of the room, Klaus' voice stopped her.

"And Caroline," she looked over her shoulder to glance at him, "enjoy your date."

With a small half smile that didn't reach her eyes, she turned her head again and strolled back over to her desk. As she sat down, Caroline tried to reorganize her thoughts. She never really knew what to expect from her enigmatic boss. First Klaus drunkenly professes a profound interest in her only to apparently forget it the next day and carry on as if nothing had changed. But now he seemed put off by the idea of her going out with Tyler, as if he was jealous.

Caroline quickly pushed that thought away. More likely he frowned upon the idea of his PA fraternizing with his higher ranking employees, or any of his employees for that matter. Or maybe he just didn't like Tyler Lockwood and was looking out for her wellbeing as a friend and nothing more.

But even as she reasoned with herself, a small part of Caroline couldn't help but cling to the notion that maybe he did want her the way he had in the back of that London cab a week ago. Maybe she hadn't imagined the possessive glint in his eyes when she mentioned her date with Tyler.

Again Caroline shut down that line of thought before it could take root. Even if Klaus was interested in her in _that_ way, it wouldn't change anything. They couldn't go there. She knew him well enough now to know exactly how things would turn out. Klaus was fickle and his interest in a woman rarely lasted more than a month or two. His affairs were all vigorous, passionate exchanges that ended with his predictably waning interest and an expensive parting gift often picked out by Caroline herself. She had too much pride to become another notch on his bedpost and she certainly wasn't going to risk her job for a few steamy nights between his sheets.

Caroline was feeling the beginnings of a blush creep onto her cheeks as her mind ran away with images of what it would be like to find herself in Klaus' bed when Tyler appeared in front of her desk, a wide grin on his handsome face. '_Safe_' was the first word that entered her mind as she glanced up at him with a smile. Tyler represented everything she should be looking for right now. A nice, established guy with a genuine interest in more than just getting in her pants. The type of guy she could build a relationship with. The exact opposite of Klaus. Sure he didn't quite inspire the same secret desires in her that her boss did but there was a little something there.

She'd been surprised when Tyler had called to ask her out. Caroline had felt given the way she had blown him off the first time then the mess with Klaus invading their drinks date, Tyler would have lost interest by now. But apparently not and she had been all too eager to agree to anything that might banish the memories of that weekend in London.

"Our reservation's for eight. Are you ready to go?" He asked, holding out a hand to her.

Caroline slid her hand into his and stood up, snatching up her bag as she went. Part of her wanted to head into Klaus' office to say goodnight like she usually did but she just knew that if she took another look at his face now, he would be all she could think about throughout her date with Tyler. And that wouldn't be fair to either of them. She wanted to give this thing with Tyler a genuine shot, without the baggage of her confusing feelings for Klaus weighing her down. So she fixed her gaze on Tyler, smiling as he led her towards the elevators.

Klaus watched with unjustified indignation as Tyler appeared in front of his office. He couldn't bring himself to turn away as the younger man took Caroline's hand in his and led her away. Klaus tried not to linger on the fact that she hadn't come in to say goodnight to him as was her custom at the end of any work day. Once they were out of his view, Klaus chastised himself for his behavior. This wasn't him – he didn't get angry over women and he certainly didn't do jealousy. Then again, when had he ever been turned down by a woman – when had there ever been any need for jealousy. But even as he thought this, Klaus knew that he wouldn't have felt this way over any other woman even if the opportunity had arose. It was Caroline. He didn't know why and he didn't particularly care to find out but she was inspiring all sorts of foreign notions in him. Ideas of an actual, stable relationship and genuine feelings. Of doing things outside the bedroom like watching movies or walking through parks or whatever it was normal people did in relationships (not something he had any real experience in). Not to mention what he could do to her _inside_ the bedroom. It was enough to make his head spin.

But Klaus had to remind himself that that wasn't in the cards for them. She'd clearly made her choice. He turned back to his computer, attempting to throw himself into his work. It took a lot to distract Klaus from his work but as he tapped away at his computer he couldn't help but imagine how Caroline's date was going. Was Tyler making her laugh? Was she sharing childhood memories with him? Was he treating her right? He most certainly better be because if Caroline so much as gave Klaus the impression Tyler had mistreated her he would make the boy's life the definition of a living hell.

Klaus was grateful for the phone buzzing that signaled the start of his conference call, hoping that at least now he'd be free of thoughts about Caroline – at least for a little while. He picked up the phone and gave the typical greetings to Mr. Shiu, the CEO of a media conglomerate that Klaus' firm was guiding through a massive merger. Thankfully, the discussion of timelines and the crunching of numbers pulled Klaus' thoughts away from his painfully alluring PA. Not so thankfully, Mr. Shiu and his associates were doing a fantastic job of worsening Klaus' already foul mood. He had already negotiated an agreed upon buyout number between the larger conglomerate and the much smaller American run newspaper that they were eating up but somewhere along the line Mr. Shiu had decided he wasn't satisfied.

The beauty of Klaus' firm was that they were the best and being the best meant you got to pick and choose who you decided to sell your services too – because Klaus' services were in quite high demand. If you wanted Klaus to handle your company's merger, or stocks, or buybacks, etc. you played by his rules – it was as simple as that. Failure to do so meant that he had all the power to simply walk away. Rubbing his fingers to his temple, Klaus contemplated doing just that although he had already spent an awful lot of time and money structuring this deal so he was in no mood to throw it all away just yet. He found himself wishing Caroline could have been here after all. She had a way of brightening his mood in the midst of particularly stressful negotiations.

And with his mind back on Caroline, Klaus held in a frustrated growl. So much for his brief respite from his troublesome thoughts. With a final roll of his eyes, Klaus brought the call to an end, having made sure his stance was impeccably clear. He wasn't to be fooled with and the arrangement stayed as was or he walked and left the two companies to sort through the rubbage themselves – they weren't going to craft a better deal than the one he had structured.

With the call done, he leaned back in his chair and ran a hand over his face. After a few moments of silence he pulled his phone from his pocket. He needed a release. He needed to chase away these persistent thoughts about Caroline. He needed to escape. And the best way to do that was to find a warm and willing woman to bury himself in for the night and pray that it wasn't Caroline's face he'd be picturing in his bed.

* * *

Caroline twirled the spoon around her tiramisu before bringing the delicious dessert to her mouth. Her eyes roved around the lavish restaurant before they landed on Tyler again. He'd been a perfect gentleman all night, holding open doors and pulling out chairs for her. As they enjoyed their dinner (like the restaurant Klaus had taken her to that one night, this place didn't have prices on the menu so Caroline had been careful to order the least expensive sounding dish), Tyler filled her in on his life. Like Klaus, he had been born into a wealthy family (she found herself drawing the comparisons and dissimilarities before she could stop herself) and was born and raised in New York. Harvard educated, he hadn't had to work his way up the ranks at Klaus' firm because apparently his father had done substantial business with Klaus when he was young and just starting his firm so he owed the Lockwood's a favor. Caroline couldn't help but think how nice it must be to have everything handed to you wrapped and sealed in a pretty box. She knew Klaus' background afforded him the same opportunity but she also knew Klaus had worked hard for everything he had. And there were the comparisons again, she thought to herself as she tried to push the thoughts away and focus on Tyler.

Caroline found herself just murmuring and nodding as Tyler carried on and on. He liked to talk about himself a lot but that was okay. Caroline didn't mind listening. After a particularly long bout of talking, Tyler finally paused.

"I've been going on and on, haven't I?" He asked, lifting his glass of white wine to his lips.

Klaus drank red. The thought crossed Caroline's mind before she could stop it.

"It's okay. I love listening." Caroline replied with a wide grin.

"But tell me about yourself. I already know you work for Mikaelson Capital. You don't seem like a native New Yorker, how long have you been here?"

Caroline thought about asking him how he could tell she wasn't a native New Yorker but inwardly shrugged and decided against it. "Just a few years. I'm originally from a small town in Virginia called Mystic Falls."

She watched a slight grimace cross Tyler's face. "Southern small town, I can see why you got away."

Her eyebrows shut up as she stared at Tyler. Yeah she'd come to New York to escape but Caroline loved her hometown and didn't appreciate the disdainful way he seemed to address it. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked slowly, careful to keep her voice neutral.

"Just that you don't seem like the Southern belle type." He replied slowly, watching the tense look in her eyes.

Caroline bit back the urge to inform him that she had in fact been the quintessential 'southern belle' when she'd been crowned Miss Mystic Falls. "Anyway, I came up here to go to school." She said, rushing to change the topic.

"Oh, where did you graduate from?" Tyler asked, drumming his fingers lightly on the table.

Caroline paused before responding. "Er, well I went to NYU but I never graduated. I had to drop out before my senior year for reasons."

"You never graduated?" The words were out of Tyler's mouth before he could grasp the way it sounded. "I mean, you're clearly a very brilliant woman." He back tracked quickly.

Not knowing how to respond to that unintentional slight (how could she explain to someone who'd been born with it all that she'd dropped out of school to help support her mother), Caroline just lifted another bite of her dessert to her mouth to keep from having to reply.

"I've just been putting my foot in my mouth all night." Tyler said, having the decency to look sheepish. "It's only because you make me a little nervous. I'm not used to women like you."

"Women like me?" The question was out before she could stop herself.

"Yeah. Down to earth and chill. Not at all whiny or entitled."

Caroline felt a grin ease across her face. "I'm nothing special - you've just been hanging out with the wrong women."

"Yeah, I have." Tyler grinned back. "But you're wrong about not being special."

That particular line kept a grin on Caroline's face the rest of the meal. When they were done and Tyler had paid the check, they walked outside and Tyler flagged down a cab for her. He tossed the driver a few bills before holding the backdoor open for her. With a hand braced on the cab door, she turned to tell Tyler goodnight and was surprised when he smashed his lips against hers. After a few seconds of shock, Caroline moved her mouth tentatively with his. The kiss was soft, sweet and short as Tyler pulled away seconds later. With a final smile and wave she hopped into the cab and he shut the door behind her.

As she sat in the cab cruising down the streets, Caroline wondered idly if Klaus was still at the office and what he was up too. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than she frowned to herself for thinking it. She'd just been on a nice date with a nice guy that ended in a nice kiss so there was no reason for Caroline to be thinking about her boss right now. It was getting absurd who quickly and how often Klaus invaded her mind. Sure they spent an awful lot of time together, both at the office and working from his penthouse, but that was no excuse. Caroline decided that when she got home she would have to give herself a stern talking to. Maybe enlist Elena to help as well. Caroline could have a good thing going with Tyler if she let it and errant thoughts about Klaus (fantasies that would never evolve into anything) would only hinder that. This was good thing. Tyler was a good thing. It was time that she buried any so called feelings for Klaus and embraced a good thing.

* * *

Klaus laid back in his bed, a hand behind his head, as he stared up at the ceiling. He ignored the red tipped finger that trailed down his abdomen and back up again. When the woman beside him failed to get a response, she rolled on top of him, her hair cascading down onto her chest.

"What're you thinking about?" She asked in a low husky voice, gazing down at him.

Another woman, he thought to himself. Klaus raised a hand and fingered the pin straight black hair that dangled above him. It didn't have the natural bounce and inherent brightness of Caroline's wavy blonde hair. The grey eyes that stared down at him didn't have the same glittering depth of Caroline's blue eyes. But she was here and Caroline wasn't.

With a swift, perfected move Klaus flipped them over so he was lying on top of her. The woman threw her head back on a moan and Klaus plunged into her for the fourth time that night. The room filled with sounds of grunts and groans and sweaty skin slapping against each other. Each thrust was hard and exacting until Klaus' body locked and he emptied himself in her. Even as he pulled out again, Klaus knew that no amount of releases was going to banish the thoughts of what he actually wanted from his mind. Caroline.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm going to get better at updating sooner. Thanks to everyone who reviews. To the person leaving the best, thorough, and actually quite helpful guest reviews - I don't know who you are but thank you. **

* * *

Klaus wasn't a man prone to distraction. For most of his adult life, work had been the sole center of his focus. Yes there were woman and parties and all the like but anyone who really knew Klaus knew that when he was working, all of that fell to the wayside. It was a part of what made him so good at his job – the ability to turn everything off and focus on the numbers.

Or at least, he used to have that ability. Before Caroline. Even when she wasn't in his direct line of vision, Caroline toyed with his focus. As if his thoughts had conjured her, Caroline appeared in the doorway to his home office, a hand on one hip and the other holding her Ipad on top of a stack of papers.

"You realize the total contents of your fridge consists of half a bottle of orange juice and a carton of spoiled eggs, right?"

Klaus picked up on the reprimanding undertone of her voice and just smiled. "I had no idea." He said, leaning back in his chair and gesturing out with his right arm.

"And there are still dishes in the sink. Where's Rosemary?"

Caroline knew Klaus' housekeeper was normally meticulous in her work. The fridge was always stocked and the house was always clean.

"She quit a week ago." Klaus replied with a shrug.

"What?" She asked, walking into the room and coming to stand in front of his desk. She placed the items in her hands down on his desk and put both hands on her hips. "What did you do?" She arched an eyebrow, staring down at him.

"Me? I didn't do anything." Klaus leaned further back in his chair to smile up at her. "She said something about a sick uncle. Or maybe it was a runaway niece. Something."

Caroline just rolled her eyes. "I'll find you another housekeeper." She spoke, picking up her stack of files and Ipad.

Klaus frowned a little. He didn't like change. "Make sure they're trustworthy. I don't want anyone snooping through my things."

"I know." Caroline replied, already tapping away at her Ipad.

"And make sure they can keep the same hours Rosemary -"

"I know." Caroline cut him off, nodding idly.

"And be sure –"

"I know!" Caroline cut him off again, rolling her eyes but smiling. "I will take care of it. I'll find someone, inform them of all your preferences, walk them through the schedule, I've got it. You probably won't even notice anything has changed."

Klaus smirked, nodding and implicitly trusting her to handle it to perfection. It's just what she did.

"Now let's talk the rest of your week." Caroline said, filing away the housekeeper task and making a mental note to send a parting gift to Rosemary from Klaus. If she didn't take care of it, Lord knows he wouldn't. "You have that charity benefit tomorrow night."

Klaus just hummed noncommittally. Ever since Caroline had talked him into increasing the company's charity budget, he found himself invited to even more benefits and galas. Klaus didn't mind the donating – the money was inconsequential to him – but he did, however, find these benefits and galas to be extremely boring.

Sensing his slight discontent, Caroline rushed forward before he could change his mind and tell her to take it off the books. "And at 2:00 you have that art viewing Sasha scheduled at a gallery in midtown. She's already put a few pieces on reserve for you to take a look at."

Caroline tried to keep her mouth from slipping into a frown when she said Sasha's name. She wasn't a fan of Klaus' personal art buyer. She told herself it was because the woman was snobbish and rude but a small part of Caroline suspected it had something to do with the fact that she was 75% sure Klaus had slept with her. Caroline internally reprimanded herself for caring who Klaus did and didn't sleep with. It was none of her business. Besides, things were moving along nicely with Tyler. Maybe not particularly exciting, but nice all the same. Maybe the exciting part would come later. Klaus' voice snapped Caroline from her wayward thoughts.

"Perfect. Tell James to bring the car around. Let's go." Klaus stood from his chair in one smooth motion and strolled across to the room.

Caroline glanced down at her watch in confusion. "It's only noon. The gallery's not expecting you 'til 2:00."

"Well, tell them to expect me sooner." Klaus said with a smile, holding the office door open and gesturing for Caroline to walk through.

She rolled her eyes as they made their way toward the elevator. "You do realize the entire world doesn't cater to what you want to do, when you want to do it."

"Really?" Klaus said with a sarcastic smirk as they stepped into the elevator. "Because, I've found the world to be rather accommodating when it comes to getting what I want, when I want it."

Caroline just laughed, shaking her head. Of course that's how the world would work for a man like him. After all this time, it really shouldn't surprise her anymore when people bend over backward to please Klaus.

"It must be nice to always get what you want, when you want it." She teased.

Klaus just turned his head to stare at her in silence, her head bent as she searched for the gallery number in her phone. The truth was, he didn't always get what he wanted when he wanted it. Because right now he wanted to stop the elevator, push her up against the mirrored glass and satisfy his growing curiosity about just how Caroline would taste, those plump coral lips trapped beneath his. He wanted to run his hands through that silky waterfall of hair and cup those perfectly rounded breasts in his palms. He wanted to press her lithe body to his and wrap one long toned leg around his waist. The fact of the matter was working with Caroline had taught Klaus an awful lot about not getting what he wanted when he wanted it. Having her constantly within reach but always just out of his grasp was an exquisite kind of torture. The kind he supposed he was sentenced to as penance for his philandering ways. The fates couldn't have picked a more fitting punishment.

But would it be so horrible if he had just a little taste? One, tiny dose of Caroline. Without quite realizing what he was doing, Klaus leaned in closer to Caroline who was still gazing intently down at her phone. He caught a whiff of her enticing scent, light and sweet with a hint of vanilla. Klaus loved that she didn't douse herself in perfume like many of the women he knew. Caroline's scent was rich and fresh and all natural. He leaned in even closer, his hip grazing hers in the process. Klaus was a breath away from giving up the fight and yanking her to him when the elevator doors dinged open.

Caroline looked up from her phone and stepped out of the elevator, sauntering across the lobby with Klaus right behind her. Once they were seated in the car, Caroline called up the gallery to let them know they were on the way. As expected, the gallery owner was all too eager to comply with Klaus' spur of the moment whim. Less than half an hour later, Caroline watched on in silence while the gallery owner led Klaus from piece to piece. He kept his hands behind his back as he walked, staring pensively at each piece. Finally, he asked (although Caroline felt it was more like a command than a request) the gallery owner to give them a moment alone to look at the art.

"What do you think?" Klaus turned to Caroline, gesturing for her to come closer to the painting he was standing in front of.

She tilted her head a bit to the side as she stared at it. Caroline couldn't quite tell if it was a landscape or something abstract. It looked like it might have started out as a painting of the horizon but everything was so fuzzy and wavy that she couldn't really tell what it was supposed to be. "I think…it's nice?"

Klaus just chuckled, his head shaking lightly. "Come on, what do you really think?"

Caroline looked again, biting her lower lip in thought. "It's…confusing."

Klaus stepped closer to her as they both stared at the picture. "His bold strokes and attention to detail are simply sublime. What looks like random patterns are nothing less than the work of pure genius."

Caroline watched Klaus in fascination as he stared at the picture.

He must have felt her staring because a second later he turned to face her. "You really need to view it from the other side of the room."

Really interested now, she followed him and turned back to look at the piece of art from across the room. She had to admit, after hearing Klaus talk about it, there was something ethereal and heavenly about the painting. "I guess it does have a certain…" Caroline trailed off.

"It's mesmerizing." Klaus said, now watching Caroline gaze at the painting.

With a smile on her face, she turned to face him again. "You're really passionate about this stuff." Caroline wasn't sure why but she had assumed that he purchased all this expensive art so frequently because it was a good investment. She hadn't realized he genuinely loved the paintings.

Klaus returned her smile, leading her to the next painting. "I used to paint a bit myself. I still do, from time to time. Not in a long while though."

"Why'd you stop? Weren't any good?" Caroline teased, nudging him with her shoulder. There was just no way he could be great at everything.

"Actually I was quite good. _**Am **_quite good. I almost made a go of it professionally."

Caroline paused at that bit of insight, peeking to the side at him. "Well why didn't you?"

Klaus just shrugged. He could explain to her that it was because when he was growing up, Mikael had always viewed Klaus' artistic abilities as a weakness – just another thing to throw in his face. 'Play with your paints while your brother is being groomed to take over one of the most profitable companies in the world.' He could tell her that – but they'd done more than enough personal sharing for the day.

"What do you think of this one?" Klaus paused in front of another painting, this one a depiction of a naked couple embracing, drawn from the torso up.

Again she bit her lower lip as she studied it. "It's very intimate. I feel like I'm intruding on something."

"That's the point." Klaus whispered, leaning in closer to Caroline. For the second time that day he fought the overwhelming urge to crush her lips to his.

Caroline felt Klaus move so close to her that she could feel his breath ghosting across her neck. Her body tensed and she sucked in a breath. The combination of him being that close and the sensual painting they were standing in front of was more than Caroline could handle. She coughed a little, stepping away from him and the painting.

"What about this one?" She asked, darting over to another painting.

Klaus stared at the painting she was talking about. The artist was lauded as being the next Picasso or Dali, but Klaus personally didn't love his work. He looked at the abstract painting and felt nothing. Turning his head to the side, he watched Caroline who appeared hypnotized by it.

"I don't know. What do you think?" He spoke softly, not wanting to break her concentration.

There was no pause this time before Caroline spoke. "I think it's amazing. It's lonely but hopeful. I can't really explain." Caroline blushed as she spoke. She didn't exactly have his way with words when it came to describing art.

Before Klaus could respond, the gallery owner reappeared, a wide grin on her face. "So would you like to make any purchases today? Sasha mentioned you were looking for a new piece for your living room. Might I suggest the Hans Vergen piece. It's positively stunning by a set of bay windows. When the light hits it - just captivating."

"I'll take the Hans Vergen, the Johansson piece, and this one." Klaus gestured to the painting Caroline had been so enthralled by.

Her head snapped away from the painting to look at Klaus. "You like this one?"

No but she did, and if Caroline liked it that much than no one else should have it. He'd hang it in the home office where she could see it every day. His phone rang and he reached in to his pocket to pull it out.

"I have to take this. You can square things away with my PA." Klaus said to the gallery owner as he walked away.

While Klaus talked on the phone, Caroline settled the payment with the gallery owner. She had to keep her jaw from dropping to the floor when the woman told her the total the three pieces would come to. Klaus was spending what she considered to be a small fortune without so much as a second thought. And the last one, the one she'd been admiring, was by far the most expensive. She couldn't fathom why he would spend so much on a painting he didn't seem all that impressed by.

They were just wrapping things up as Klaus returned. The woman thanked him profusely, no doubt thrilled to have sold not one but three pieces, and after she assured Klaus they would be delivered later today, they headed towards the door.

"I'm hungry." Caroline said offhandedly as they exited the gallery.

"I'll tell James to bring the car around. Where do you want to go, La Bernardin? Blue Water Grill?"

Caroline shook her head, not in the mood to go to some upscale restaurant. "I have an incredible urge for a street-cart hotdog with a ton of onions and mustard."

Klaus shot her an incredulous look. "A street-cart hotdog?" He asked, a bit disdainfully.

"Don't say it like that." Caroline laughed, putting a hand on one hip. "They're delicious."

"I wouldn't know. I've never had one."

Caroline's jaw dropped almost comically and Klaus couldn't help but laugh.

"You've lived in New York for years and you've never had a street-cart hotdog?" She asked as if she genuinely couldn't believe this.

"Never." Klaus replied with a grin.

"It's settled then. Central park is right there. Come on, we can get hotdogs and eat them on a park bench."

Klaus just laughed beneath his breath as he followed an overly excited Caroline down the block. They reached Central Park in a matter of minutes and Caroline led him over to the first hot dog cart she saw.

"Two hotdogs. Heavy mustard and onions on both." Klaus said to the hotdog seller, handing him a bill and taking the hotdogs loaded down with the dripping yellow stuff and the diced onions.

He handed a wrapped hotdog to Caroline and they began walking again. When they came to an empty park bench, they both sat down. Caroline watched him carefully, a playful glint in her eye as she waited for him to take his first bite.

"This feels almost dangerous." Klaus pointed out, eyeing the suspicious meat.

"That's part of the beauty of it!" She said laughingly.

"Not knowing if you're going to wake up with Mad Cow Disease? And here I thought you weren't a risk taker."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Just taste it!"

Klaus followed her orders, taking a bite out of the hotdog.

"So?" She asked, practically vibrating in her seat while she waited to hear his reaction.

He chewed slowly, wanting to keep her waiting. "Surprisingly good." He said once he'd swallowed.

"Ha!" Caroline replied, turning to her own hotdog with a smile.

After eating his hotdog, Klaus threw the napkin into the trashcan. He then became thoroughly absorbed by how Caroline ate hers. Like a bird, she picked all the pieces of stray onion off the top and then started nibbling at the roll.

"You're staring," she said as she pulled a piece of bread from the hotdog and flicked her gaze to him.

"I like staring at you. Aren't you used to it by now?" Klaus teased but there was a lot of truth to his words.

Caroline couldn't stop the flush that crept up her cheeks and she quickly finished off her hotdog before tossing the napkin into the trash.

"You can now officially say you're a New Yorker." She said with a flourish, grinning at him.

"Oh so consuming meat cooked on a cart in the middle of the street was the last barrier I had to break down?" Klaus asked sarcastically.

"Yes! Meat cooked on a cart is like one of the greatest things about this city! There's certainly nothing like it in Mystic Falls."

Klaus watched on in fascination as she talked. Caroline always lit up when she talked about this city. "You really love this place, don't you?" He asked.

"How could you not?" Caroline responded. "Everything is so vibrant and beautiful and exciting."

Klaus just arched an eyebrow.

"What you don't think so?" She asked.

"London's better." Klaus replied proudly.

"So why'd you come here?" Caroline asked, genuinely curious.

Klaus looked away from her and out at the trees. "Let's just say my father and I are a lot better off with an ocean between us."

There was a long pause before Caroline asked softly, "Why?"

Klaus was spared from having to answer by the shrill ring of his phone going off again. He glanced down to see it was Stefan calling again.

"I have to run. You can take the rest of the day off. Come on, I'll hail a cab for you." He said, standing.

Caroline stood as well, brushing stray crumbs off her pencil skirt. She knew better than to fight him over the cab issue. After multiple arguments, Caroline just accepted that Klaus wouldn't let her ride the subway home from work anymore. He always put her in a cab and paid for it himself. As they walked back over to the curb, Caroline found herself oddly disappointed that he hadn't gotten the chance to explain about his relationship with his father. It was none of her business but she wanted to know. Maybe it would help her understand him better.

Klaus flagged down a cab and held the back door open for her. Before she could dip into the cab, Klaus' hand on her arm stopped her.

"Caroline, about the benefit tomorrow –"

"You are **not **getting out of it." She said sternly, pointing a finger at him.

Klaus just laughed. "Of course not. But since you're forcing me to go, I was hoping you'd be willing to accompany me. It's always better with pleasant company around."

The word 'yes' was on the tip of her tongue before Caroline remembered something. She sighed before answering. "I can't. I have a date with Tyler tomorrow night. He's taking me to the opera."

Klaus felt his jaw clench and his grip on the top of the cab door tightened. Of course, Tyler. He'd almost managed to forget about him for a few hours. The little shit was monopolizing all of Caroline's time. Or maybe it just felt that way to Klaus because he was so used to having Caroline all to himself. And the boy clearly didn't know her all that well. Caroline would be bored silly during a four hour opera.

"Well, I'll see you at the office tomorrow morning." Klaus said, letting the cab door go and watching as Caroline slid into the car.

"Yeah I'll see you tomorrow." She replied softly as he shut the cab door behind her. Caroline could tell he was disappointed and that in turn made her disappointed.

She tried not to think too much about it as the cab took her home but despite all her efforts, it was still on her mind as she shut the door to the apartment she shared with Elena.

"I ordered pizza." Elena shouted from the living room as Caroline made her way over there.

She dropped onto the couch beside her friend who was curled up with her sketch pad.

"Why the long face?" Elena asked, shutting her notebook and staring at her friend.

Caroline paused for a moment before speaking. "Klaus wanted me to go to this benefit with him tomorrow night but I already told Tyler I'd go to the opera with him. Klaus is my boss but Tyler's my…whatever he is. Besides it's not like the benefit is technically work so –"

Elena cut her friend off, shifting to her knees on the couch. "Wait you mean the Manhattan Rose Society benefit?" She asked, excitedly.

"Uh, yeah." Caroline replied slowly, not sure what that had to do with anything.

"Are you kidding me, Caroline? You have to go. The cream of the NYC crop will all be there." Elena's face got even more excited as an idea came to her. "You could wear one of my designs! Photographers will be lined up inside and outside to take pictures of the event. What if one of my dresses ended up in the NY society pages?! Allison would have to take me seriously then! Not to mention you'd be showing off my gown to some of the most elite women in the city. What if they love it?! This could launch my career!"

Caroline's eyes widened as she watched her friend practically vibrate with enthusiasm. "But I just told you. Tyler's taking me to the opera."

Elena shot her friend an exasperated look. "The opera versus one of the hottest ticket events of the NYC charity galas season." She held both her hands up, one clearly higher than the other. "Caroline, it's a no brainer!"

Caroline just sighed, shaking her head. "Except for the part where it means cancelling on Tyler. I thought you were pro me and Tyler."

"He will understand!" Elena said, shaking her friend's shoulder. "Please Caroline, do this for me. Opportunities like this don't exactly fall into my lap all the time and you know how things have been at work with Allison. If I don't start making some progress soon…"

Caroline groaned, throwing her head back against the couch. After a minute of silence she muttered. "Fine."

Elena squealed, hugging her friend. Once the excitement passed, the panic set in. "Oh my God. Oh my God. I have to make a dress by tomorrow night. I need your measurements. I need to go buy fabric. I don't even know which design I'm going to use yet. I'll have to stay up all night." Elena was talking more to herself than to Caroline as she stood up from the couch and raced off to her room.

Caroline watched her friend go and couldn't help but laugh a little. If she was being perfectly honest, she was glad Elena had given her a reason to go to the benefit. Now all that was left to do was let Tyler and Klaus know. She pulled her phone from her pocket and stared at it for a moment, wondering if she was making the right choice. She went back and forth a few times before she forced herself to make a decision. Before she could change her mind again, Caroline tapped out two quick text messages, sending one to Tyler and one to Klaus.

Once she was done, Caroline tossed her phone aside and threw her head back, staring up at the ceiling. Only thing left to do now was wait.


	9. Chapter 9

"Step away from the cabinet." Caroline spoke slowly and Jenna's hands rose in the air, palms forward, as she stepped away from the cabinet.

"Alaric needed the Edison Corp. file." Jenna said as the other assistant walked toward her.

Caroline threw her a teasing glare as she reached into the filing cabinet herself. She had a very specific method of organizing Klaus' files down to which corporation, when the account was opened and level of importance. Everyone, Jenna included, knew better than to mess with Caroline's files. Klaus himself didn't touch them. With a smile she handed Jenna the file and watched as the other woman propped her hip against the cabinet.

She tapped the file lightly against her hand and smiled. "Any plans for the night, pretty lady?"

"Klaus wants me to go with him to the Manhattan Rose Society benefit." Caroline said, mimicking Jenna's position leaning against the cabinet. She loved 'water cooler talk' with Jenna. The older woman knew everything that went on in the office.

"Oh, exciting." Jenna grinned, drumming her fingers together.

Caroline gave a slight nod. "Yeah but it'd be better if I didn't feel so guilty for cancelling on Tyler."

"Right." She said slowly. "Tyler."

"What?" Caroline asked, standing up straight and throwing the other woman an inquisitive look.

"Nothing. He's…" Jenna struggled to find something positive to say, "a nice height for you." She nodded as she spoke.

Caroline rolled her eyes and prepared to respond when her phone dinged in her pocket.

"Speak of the devil." Caroline mumbled as she pulled her phone from her pocket and read the text from Tyler.

Klaus' glares had made it clear he didn't appreciate Tyler coming by the office to pick Caroline up for lunch so she'd told him to start meeting her downstairs instead.

"I have to go." She said, pocketing her phone before pointing at Jenna, "but this isn't over."

The other woman just laughed as Caroline sauntered out of the room. She spotted Tyler in the vast lobby and sped walked over to him.

"Hey." She tapped him on the shoulder.

With a grin he leaned down to peck her on the cheek before holding his arm out. "Shall we?"

With a small smile and a nod, she followed him out the revolving glass doors. Once outside, Tyler turned to face her again.

"I have a standing reservation at Atelier." He said as he moved to hail a cab.

Caroline thought of the stuffy five star restaurant that was Tyler's favorite place to go and held back a frown.

"How about we do something else today?" Caroline asked lightly, putting a hand out to stop Tyler.

He froze for a moment before nodding cautiously. "Okay but a reservation is going to be hard to get this last minute."

That was fine. Caroline was tired of going to places where you needed a reservation and had to wait 20 minutes to be seated anyway.

"Why don't we just grab hotdogs?" She asked, not able to stop the grin that crept onto her face when she thought of her lunch with Klaus in Central Park yesterday.

Tyler's face, however, blanched. "Hotdogs?"

Caroline's grin widened further. Klaus had been reluctant at first too but he'd done it. "Yeah we can hit a street cart down the block."

"I'd rather not." He said, shifting on his feet.

"Trust me, it'll be great." Caroline said enthusiastically.

"No, Caroline." He snapped and her jaw nearly dropped.

She composed herself quickly and gave him a stiff smile. "Actually, I just remembered something I have to do. I should probably skip lunch and head back up to the office."

Tyler shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels. "Okay." He said with a nod. "So, I'll just see you tonight then."

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows and shot him a confused look. "Didn't you get my message?"

Tyler mimicked her confused stare. "What message?"

She let out a sigh and barely refrained from slapping her palm to her face. It had been a bit uncouth to cancel via text but cancelling in person had been exactly what Caroline had been trying to avoid.

"About tonight." Caroline began slowly. "I hate to do this but Kla – Mr. Mikaelson needs me to go with him to this thing and so I can't…."

Tyler's face fell and he let out a frustrated growl.

"I'm free tomorrow night." Caroline said with a forced smile, immediately regretting offering him tomorrow as a consolation prize.

"Why do you call him Klaus?"

Caroline's eyebrows furrowed again. "What –"

Tyler cut her off before she could finish. "You always catch yourself before you say it but it's definitely instinct."

"Well," she gave a slight shrug. "We spend a lot of time together and it's what he prefers." Caroline said quickly, having never thought much on the subject.

"What are we doing here Caroline?" Tyler gestured between them. "Because I want _us_ to be exclusive. I want to take you out and show you off. I want to be able to introduce you to my friends as my girlfriend. I want to meet your friends. And I can't do that if there's something going on between you and the boss, so what are we doing here?"

There was a brief pause before Caroline said, "You want to be my boyfriend?" a grin spreading across her face.

"Is that all you took from what I just said?" Tyler replied, smiling back.

Still smiling, Caroline leaned up to peck him quickly on the lips. "We're back on for tonight." She said once she pulled away. "Pick me up at 7?" She said as she walked backward toward the revolving doors.

Tyler just nodded as Caroline retreated back into the building. As she made her way back up to the office, Caroline contemplated what she would tell Klaus. He was out of the office today wrapped up in meetings but he'd said he'd pick her up at 8 tonight. That didn't give her a lot of time to figure out an appropriate way to back out of their plans. But she couldn't cancel on Tyler now. He wanted to get serious and Caroline hadn't even thought that much about it until he'd put the offer on the table. But now that the offer _was _on the table – well she'd figure out a way to explain it all to Klaus.

* * *

As it turns out, Klaus wasn't the only person she'd have to disappoint tonight. She still hadn't spoken to him yet when she got home around five and found Elena waiting there anxiously for her, an excited grin on her face.

"Are you ready to try on your dress? I've been up all night and most of today but it's perfect, you're going to love it!"

"Uh…" Caroline, said slowly walking further into the living room.

"Wait here." Elena said, sprinting out of the room only to return a few minutes later with a floor length gown in her arms. The red hot number was crafted from silk and had a sheer lace neckline and a dangerously long slit along one side.

"Okay. Try it on!" She said with a flourish.

Caroline clapped her hands together and sucked in a deep breath. "Actually, I'm not going to the benefit."

Elena's face fell and she gently placed the dress down on the couch before rushing over to her friend. "Oh no. What happened?"

"Tyler wants things to get…serious." Caroline said with a smile.

"Oh yay!" Elena said, giving her friend a quick hug.

"So I'm going to go to the opera with him instead."

Elena couldn't stop the frown that took over her face. "Can't you reschedule?"

Caroline rose an eyebrow and shot her a sarcastic look. "It's not really the type of event you reschedule."

"I meant, do you need to go out with Tyler _tonight_? What about Klaus? What about my dress?"

Caroline opened her mouth to respond when an idea of how she could settle both problems occurred to her. Klaus wanted someone to sit through the benefit with him. Elena wanted her dress photographed at the event. "Why don't you just take my place?" She said, thrilled she'd found an easy solution. "He'll be here at 8. Problem solved."

"Caroline, this is not the sisterhood of the travelling ball gown – it's been designed with your specific measurements, I can't just take your place!"

She just rolled her eyes, placing her hands on Elena's shoulders. "We've been sharing clothes since we were seven, it'll work."

"Fine. Even if I resize it, what am I supposed to tell Klaus when he shows up expecting you?"

Caroline hadn't contemplated that part but she was sure it would be fine and she told Elena as much.

"And if it's not? If he turns around and just leaves?"

"He won't." Caroline said.

"How do you know?"

"He just won't." She repeated, rolling her eyes. "Look, I'll leave a note. But we're wasting time arguing about this." Caroline glanced down at her watch. "Tyler will be here soon and I have to get ready and so do you. Just trust me."

With that, Caroline raced out of the room and off to her bedroom. She had about an hour to shower and get ready before Tyler got here. A short while later, Caroline stood in front of her bedroom mirror smoothing down the bodice of her floor length, black dress. It wasn't designer like what everyone else would probably be wearing and it wasn't a one of the kind design like Elena's but Caroline knew the silky black dress accentuated her figure perfectly and that was really all that mattered in her opinion.

After applying her makeup she glanced at her clock and saw that it was still a quarter to seven. Snatching up her tiny purse, Caroline made her way back out to the living room where she picked up Elena's sketchpad and pencil to leave a note for Klaus. She was still scribbling when Elena walked into the room with a huge grin on her face and gave a quick twirl.

Caroline applauded and whistled as Elena spun around to show off the form fitting, borderline risqué dress. A nagging little voice in the back of Caroline's mind suggested that maybe sending Elena off to Klaus dressed like this might not be the best plan. She was well aware of the appeal her best friend had and that killer dress was definitely a head turner. Picking up the pad again, she scribbled a bit more before the sound of the doorbell buzzed letting the girls know Tyler had arrived. Folding the paper in half twice, Caroline handed it to Elena before walking toward the door.

"Make sure he gets that." Caroline pointed at Elena and her friend just nodded as she disappeared out the door.

Elena placed the note on the end table by the door before returning to her room to finish her makeup.

* * *

At a quarter 'til 8, Klaus ascended the steps to Caroline's apartment. He'd be lying to himself if he said he wasn't supremely excited for the night laid out before him. Klaus couldn't remember the last time he had been this eager but he schooled his face into one of impassivity as he rang the doorbell to Caroline's apartment. His impassive face turned into one of confusion when a brunette in a red dress opened the door.

"You must be Klaus." The brunette said as she fidgeted in the doorway.

"You'll have to forgive me love because I have no idea who you are." He responded, subtlety looking over her shoulder for Caroline.

Not sure what to say next, Elena snatched up the note Caroline had left and handed it to him.

Klaus took the piece of paper from the girl and unfolded it to see Caroline's handwriting. His eyes scanned the page quickly.

_Remember that time I botched the Dobson meeting and you were so mad you didn't talk to me for a day. That sucked. So don't be upset but you've probably already realized I can't make it tonight. I found you an amazing replacement though!_

_P.S. Don't forget the program director will want one on one time with you to thank you for your donation. Play nice._

_P.P.S. Buchanan will be there so you can stop avoiding his calls now._

_P.P.P.S Hands off the best friend. Keep it in your pants._

Folding the note again, Klaus slid it into his pocket. People didn't cancel on Klaus – it just wasn't done. And if anyone did, that would simply be the end of that because Klaus didn't do second chances. But he couldn't even find it in himself to be mad at Caroline. Instead he slid his hands into his pockets and looked her roommate up and down.

Elena fidgeted under his stare, half expecting him to tell her she couldn't go with him but the tuxedo clad man said nothing. Finally he held a hand out in front of him and Elena released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and walked ahead of him down the stairs.

By the one hour mark, Klaus was already fed up with the night. He'd left Caroline's roommate (he couldn't remember the girl's name and had taken to referring to her as 'Not Caroline' in his head) somewhere with Stefan while he sauntered over to the bar. Klaus half listened as the man next to him droned on and on about plans to expand his business. He knew the man was hitting him up for an investment but he simply didn't care.

Stefan must have sensed his discontent because he appeared beside Klaus and the other man sidled off knowing his time with Klaus was up for the night.

"Why do you come to these things just to sit at the bar? You've got a nice collection of alcohol at your place." Stefan pointed out as he slid into the seat beside his friend.

"I assure you, I'm not here by choice."

Stefan let out a loud laugh, throwing his head back. "You have to be the only boss on the face of the planet who is whipped by his assistant."

"And why are you here?" Klaus snorted, taking a sip of his drink.

"You know I love a party." Stefan grinned, flourishing his champagne flute. "Seriously, do you intend to just sit here pining? The great Niklaus Mikaelson. Undone by a woman." He teased.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Because?"

"Because you don't know Caroline like I do. She's effervescent and compassionate and strong willed and clever." Klaus said, spinning his glass on the bar surface.

Stefan swallowed back a bit of shock as his friend spoke. He'd been half kidding when he was teasing Klaus but his friend was 100% serious. "Then maybe you should work on being the type of guy a girl like that deserves."

Klaus just took another swig of his drink, tapping his fingers against the cold countertop. "Easier said than done." To Klaus' way of thinking, no one would ever be good enough for Caroline.

"Well it certainly beats sitting here and hopelessly pining." Stefan pointed out to his friend.

Klaus just laughed. Stefan was one to talk considering how skilled he was at hopeless pining. Klaus knew Stefan and Rebekah were both very much still in love with each other. Their on again, off again relationship spanned almost four years and even included a brief engagement that had ended amicably. They both openly admitted to still loving each other but they both loved their home cities more. Stefan wouldn't leave New York and Rebekah couldn't fathom leaving London so the two were trapped in a cycle of make-ups and break-ups. Rebekah would come to New York for a while and stay for a month or two or maybe even three – but then the air would become too smoggy or the streets too crowded or the nights too loud. Stefan would go to London for a while and stay for a month or two or maybe even three – but then the weather would become too rainy or the food too bland or the streets too quiet.

"If it were easy, it'd be boring." Klaus said.

"I'll drink to that." Stefan replied, clinking his glass with the one in Klaus' hand.

Both men had taken a swig before Stefan placed his flute down on the bar and clapped Klaus on the back. "I'm guessing since you're hung up on Caroline, you won't mind if I take a crack at Elena then?"

"Who?" Klaus asked.

Stefan shot him a confused look. "Your date…"

"Right." Klaus said, realizing his friend had been referring to 'Not Caroline'. "Go for it mate."

Stefan clapped him on the back again with a smirk before strolling off.

Once he'd left, Klaus thought more on what Stefan had said about being the type of guy a girl like Caroline deserves. Tyler certainly wasn't the type of guy she deserved. Granted, he wasn't either. But he could be – if he tried. For Caroline, he could be…

* * *

Caroline had never been more grateful in her life than the moment intermission began. Tyler led her out into the lobby and she genuinely considered suggesting they make a break for it. But Tyler really seemed to be enjoying himself so Caroline bit back her complaints. She was sure plenty of people found the opera fascinating – she just wasn't one of those people.

"So, how are you liking it so far?" Tyler asked, an enthused look on his face as they stood in the elegant lobby where people had come to stretch their legs during the break in the four hour long performance. Caroline winced just thinking about the two hours left.

"Uh, it's…" she reached into her satin clutch and pulled out her phone "just a second, I have to check a few messages." Caroline said, turning her phone on (she'd had it off so as not to disrupt the performance).

There were a few messages from Elena thanking her for the ticket and giving her a blow by blow of the event. Caroline was happy to see _someone _was having an enjoyable night. She scrolled down and stopped on a text from Klaus.

_Come here now. Urgent._

That had been sent almost an hour ago. She didn't know what 'urgent' could mean but in her head Caroline ran through a number of not so pleasant scenarios.

She looked up from her phone and back at Tyler. "This has been great Tyler but I'm sorry, I have to go."

"Go? Go where?" He asked, the confusion clear on his face.

Caroline bit on her lower lip and contemplated lying. Earlier in the morning Tyler had been suspicious of her relationship with Klaus and she was positive he wouldn't relish the idea of her leaving him to go to Klaus but Caroline finally decided that lying wasn't a good way to kick off a relationship. "It's Klaus and it's urgent."

"Can't you just ignore it?" He asked.

"He's my boss."

"You're off the clock."

"Well, he's also my friend and that's an around the clock job so…" Caroline didn't want to stand here arguing with him any longer when the word urgent was flashing in her mind.

Tyler shook his head with a frown. "Caroline if you leave –"

"Before you say anything else" She cut him off, slicing her hand through the air, "you should know I don't respond well to ultimatums."

Tyler's lips pursed into a thin line and there was a few more seconds of silence before Caroline leaned up and pecked him quickly on the lips.

"I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow." She said, already walking away from him and toward the door.

Caroline spent the cab ride all but biting her nails, wondering what the hell urgent could mean. She'd texted Klaus back letting him know she was on her way but he hadn't responded. She was just stepping out of the cab when he finally texted her.

_Good. I'll put you on the list at the door._

Still no mention of what was so urgent. Caroline put her phone back in her clutch and made her way into the benefit, her name on the list just like he'd said it would be. She'd been halfway across the hotel foyer on her way to the ballroom when Klaus exited.

Caroline froze in her spot, sucking in a breath at the sight of how well he wore that tux. A voice in the back of her head pointed out that Tyler had been wearing a tux tonight as well and she'd had nowhere near that reaction. By the time Klaus reached her, Caroline was done scolding herself and was hell bent on focusing on the issue at hand and not on her body's instantaneous reaction to him.

"You're here." Klaus said with a smile as he came to a stop in front of her.

"Well you texted and said it was urgent."

"How was your date?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows in confusion that quickly faded into anger. "Please tell me you didn't pull me away from my plans tonight for absolutely no reason." She said, crossing her arms over her chest and shooting a glare up at him.

Klaus smiled, stepping closer to her. "No I have a reason. And it is urgent."

"Well what is it?" Caroline asked.

"I need to tell you something." Klaus said, standing so close to her now that their shoes were touching.

"And you couldn't tell me over the phone?" She asked, looking up at him and trying to control her breathing which had sped up with each inch he crept closer.

"No."

There was another brief pause as Klaus' eyes darted all over Caroline's face, taking her in.

"What is so urgent you had to pull me from my date and call me out here to tell me?"

"I wanted you to know I'm throwing my hat in the ring." Klaus leaned closer, making sure her eyes were locked on his so she'd see just how serious he was. "I wanted you to know, you have options."

He heard her sharp intake of breathe and watched her graceful neck shift as she swallowed. His eyes darted back up to hers and he watched her bright eyes widen as she realized just what he was saying. Her little pink tongue darted out to lick a swift trail along her lower lip and Klaus' hands fisted at his sides as he fought the urge to take that plump pink lip between his teeth and nibble on it. He swallowed back a groan as he conjured up superhuman restraint to keep from pulling Caroline to him and crashing his lips down on hers. It would be so easy to give in to his baser instincts, to just yank her to him and take what he so badly wanted. The look in her eyes right now made him sincerely doubt that she would protest. But that's not how he wanted things to go between them. Caroline wasn't like the girls in his past (and Klaus knew those girls were just that now – his past). She was more than that and he had to do this right.

"I just thought you should know." Klaus whispered and held back a shiver when Caroline released a small breath that went dancing across his jaw.

Before he could deplete his self-control, Klaus took one step back, then two, then three before finally spinning on his heel and walking back into the ballroom – leaving Caroline standing there wondering just what she was supposed to do now.


	10. Chapter 10

"Get up, Caroline."

"No." Caroline burrowed deeper in the sheets, imagining Elena's no-nonsense pose at the end of her bed.

"It's Monday morning. You have to go to work."

Caroline just snorted. "Debatable."

"Well you can't hide under there forever."

She felt the bed dip as Elena sat down beside her and finally pulled the heavy cover back.

"I think I have a fever." Caroline mumbled incoherently.

Elena rolled her eyes with a laugh. "What you **have **is a problem most girls dream of. Two hot, successful guys chasing you. Everything is coming up Caroline."

Caroline just grunted. After the benefit Friday night she had slipped out rather than go in and have to face Klaus so soon after his declaration. She'd told Elena everything that had happened but her friend found her current predicament more funny than complicated. Caroline had spent the weekend biting her nails and pulling at her hair, franticly trying to figure out what she would do when Monday morning inevitably rolled around. Now Monday morning was here and she was no closer to a decision than she had been on Friday.

"Tyler. Klaus. Klaus. Tyler." Elena teased, shaking her friend's shoulders. "Woe is you."

"It's more complicated than that." Caroline grumbled.

Elena moved to lie on the bed beside Caroline, sitting up against the headboard. "So uncomplicate it. Simplify it. Start with Tyler." She said, pulling the pillow from Caroline and bracing it in her lap.

"Tyler is…" Caroline sighed, "he's nice. Like guy you take home to meet the parents nice. A stable, expected kind of nice."

"But…" Elena goaded.

"But we're from two different worlds and there's no middle ground with him. He's all fancy restaurants and operas and vacation cabins. The other day I tried to get him to eat a streetcart hotdog and he literally flipped."

Elena mock gasped. "How satanic of him!"

"It's a bigger deal than you think." Caroline muttered.

Her friend just laughed. "And Klaus? He's like twice as rich as Tyler, how is his world any different?"

"Klaus is" Caroline didn't even know where to begin, "he just **is**."

"Hmm, I see." Elena said with a nod.

"I mean yes the thought of him naked makes my toes curl and sure I lose track of time when I'm with him and of course he's charming and successful and witty"

"All good things." Elena cut in.

"but his attention is fleeting at best." Caroline continued. "You should see the way he goes through these girls, it's like clockwork Elena. And I like my job too much to throw it away on a fling. A probably sinful, toe curling, life altering fling but just a fling nonetheless. And then I would have lost my job and my friend and my dignity."

"True but you would have the memories of really good sex." Elena teased.

"Really **great **sex." Caroline corrected her.

"How's the sex with Tyler?" Elena asked.

She sighed, shaking her head against the pillow. "I wouldn't know."

"So you haven't…" Elena trailed off.

"Nope." Caroline said, popping her p.

She could already imagine the sex with Tyler. Straight missionary, no foreplay, traditional sex. Because he was a traditional kind of guy. But was that really the worst thing? Settling into a nice traditional relationship with a nice traditional guy? Tyler was mess-free, Klaus was a hotbed of complications. Caroline pulled the pillow over her face and screamed into it, kicking her legs on the bed.

Elena waited for her friend to finish flailing before she spoke. "You still have to go to work. And so do I."

Caroline pulled the pillow from her face and sat up quickly, her mouth forming a small oh. "Oh my god! How did it go with the dress?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Elena bounced giddily on the bed. "It was amazing, Caroline. People asked me who I was wearing and I got to say it was an 'Elena Gilbert original'. A few women even implied they might want me to design something for them."

"Elena, that's great!" Caroline said, feeling a little guilty that she'd spent the entire weekend wrapped up in her own indecision and hadn't properly celebrated her friend's accomplishment.

Elena shrugged a little but her wide grin gave away her enthusiasm. "Yeah, I'll still have to work for Allison because no one's going to want to buy an Elena nobody design but since I'm bringing in these high profile clients she has no choice but to take me seriously now. I'll get to start making some of my own designs and build up a client list and who knows maybe in a few years, I'll have my own shop."

"I'm proud of you." Caroline said, hugging her friend.

"Well it wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you. Now get up, go to work and thank your sexy boss for me." Elena said, hopping off of Caroline's bed. "**I **am going to go to work and gloat."

Caroline laughed as her friend bounced out of the room. Pushing all thoughts of Tyler and Klaus from her mind, she climbed out of bed to get ready for work.

A little over an hour later, Caroline was strolling through the lobby toward the elevators. She was grateful that they were working from the office today, knowing she couldn't be alone with Klaus in his penthouse right now. After a long shower she had decided today would be a day like any other – business as usual. She wasn't going to be forced into making a decision right now.

Caroline stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall to Klaus' office, stopping at her desk to put down her purse before strolling through the glass doors into his office.

He was talking heatedly on the phone and held up a finger indicating for Caroline to wait a moment. She stood in front of his desk reviewing his schedule for the week while Klaus finished up his conversation. When he finally hung up the phone, Klaus grinned up at Caroline.

"Good morning." He said, his smile widening.

Caroline internally let out a sigh of relief that he hadn't immediately referenced the other night. She appreciated the time he was giving her to decide what came next.

"Morning." She said returning his smile. "So the rundown of your week –"

"First" Klaus cut her off. "I need you to cancel any non-essential social commitments from here on out."

Caroline arched a brow as she looked down at him. "Is that your way of telling me to cancel all your dates? Throwing away the proverbial little black book, are we?"

Klaus just kept that same sexy grin on his face. "And I'll be changing my number as well, see to it that the new number goes only to the people that need it."

Caroline bit down on her lower lip and nodded as he spoke. She knew what he was doing – making a point of cutting the many women out of his life. It was a nice gesture but what if that's all it was – a gesture. It was one thing to say he was giving up casual sex with all these women and another thing entirely to actually do it. And given just how much she knew about that facet of his life, Caroline thought her skepticism was completely justified.

She was spared having to respond by the sound of Alaric knocking at the glass door.

"I need to borrow the big man for a minute." The V.P. said, leaning into the room.

"He's all yours." Caroline responded, passing Alaric as he entered the room and she sauntered out.

She'd been working at her desk for about twenty minutes when a hand tapping on the surface had her looking up and into the eyes of Stefan.

"Hey, you're right on time, go on in."

"Well this is a new addition." A smooth voice sounded and Caroline glanced next to Stefan to see a dark haired man with a devilish look on his face. "I don't believe we've met, I'm Damon Salvatore." The man leaned over her desk, getting closer to her face and Caroline thought to herself those eyes must work out very well for him. It might have even worked on her if she hadn't already been captivated by a different set of enigmatic eyes.

Klaus spotted Damon leaning over Caroline's desk and shot out of his chair at incredible speed, striding over to his office door and flinging it open.

"Damon." The name dripped from his lips menacingly and when Damon looked up Klaus shot him a glare.

The other man just smirked, sauntering into Klaus' office with Stefan behind him.

"Now where did you find that pretty young thing?" Damon asked as the three men sat down, Klaus in his seat and the brothers in the two leather chairs across his desk.

"Stefan." Klaus growled as a way of warning his friend to call off his brother.

Stefan shot Damon an exasperated look. "Don't go there. It's a thing with him." He explained though he still wasn't clear on the 'thing' Klaus had with his PA.

"Well knowing your track record, what do I have to wait – a week? Two weeks? – before you're done and I've got a shot."

Klaus saw red and struggled to remind himself that this was his place of work, not an underground fighting ring. "Keep talking Damon, we'll see how your luck with the ladies turns when I knock your teeth out." He threatened in a low, even tone.

"Okay, okay." Damon held up his hands in a surrender pose but that smug smile was still on his face.

"Let's just talk business." Stefan said, intent on easing the tension in the room before it got out of hand.

Klaus fixed Damon with one last glare before speaking. "The Salvatore Corporation is now the proud new owner of Knight Advertising Agency. We'll just sit you guys down with James Knight, hammer out the last few numbers and it's a done deal." Klaus said, leaning back in his chair.

"That's great." Stefan replied with a grin, not surprised that Klaus had finally convinced James Knight to sell up.

"It is." Klaus said with a nod. "So are you going to tell me why you're buying a shell company?"

The pleased look on both brothers' faces fell and was replaced by nervous ones.

Damon was the first to pull it together, schooling his face into one of impassivity. "We don't know what you mean. So far as we know, Knight Advertising Agency is a fully operational business."

"And yet the highly paid bright minds I employ to handle mergers and acquisitions tell me otherwise. See when Alaric told me red flags were popping up, I thought to myself 'I'm sure it's an error' and I did a little digging myself."

Klaus had been equal parts confused and angry to find that Knight Advertising Agency only existed on paper. Shell companies weren't illegal per say but in Klaus' experience, more often than not they were used to hide money or any number of other illegal activities.

"Ric told you there were red flags?" Damon asked with a frown.

Klaus shot him a look. "He may be your friend but he still works for me."

He turned away from Damon to train his gaze on Stefan. "So are you going to lie to my face Stefan?"

Stefan shifted in his seat, having the good grace to look shamefaced. "Our company – we might have landed in a bit of trouble."

"You know what" Klaus cut him off with a wave of his hand. "I don't want to know. Plausible deniability and all."

Damon's frown turned into that easy going smile again. "Great. So when can we finalize the details?"

Klaus' stare remained trained on Stefan even as he spoke to Damon. "My people will set the meeting and get the details to you."

"Well, I'll see you then." Damon said, standing and heading for the door.

Stefan stayed seated, the two friends staring at each other. Finally he asked, "if you knew it was a shell company, why'd you go along with it?"

"Because a friend asked me for a favor and that's the kind of man I am. Of course, there is the little issue of you not telling me the truth to begin with so I see that's the kind of man you are."

Stefan sighed. There was another long pause before he spoke again. "We aren't hurting anyone, trust me on that. We're just trying to dig ourselves out of a hole."

Klaus leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the desk. "Look me in the eye and tell me it wasn't a hole that Damon dug himself."

Stefan didn't respond and Klaus just shook his head.

"So far as I'm concerned, Mikaelson Capital arranged the absorption of Knight Advertising Agency into the Salvatore Corporation. That's all."

Stefan just nodded, standing up. He shot Klaus one last apologetic look before leaving the room. He'd barely been gone a minute when Caroline walked in.

"Why did Stefan look like someone killed his puppy?" She asked, dropping into one of the seats across from his desk. She took one look at his face and asked "hey, what's wrong?"

Klaus argued internally with himself for a moment before deciding to just tell her. He trusted Caroline more than he trusted anyone else who wasn't his own flesh and blood. "Stefan had my firm unknowingly aide him in the purchase of a shell company."

"What's a shell company?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Basically a fake company. It exists on paper but there's no actual business."

Caroline paused before asking. "Well is it illegal?"

"Strictly speaking no. Though, in my experience, people who aren't up to any illegal activity don't generally feel the need to launder their money through dummy corporations."

"Well what do you think he's doing with it?"

Klaus shrugged. "Tax evasion? Fraud? Maybe he's scamming old ladies out of their retirement funds. I don't know, nor do I want to know."

"That doesn't sound like Stefan." Caroline pointed out.

"Yes, but you don't know Damon."

Caroline watched the frustrated look on Klaus' face and wracked her brain for a way to make it better. "Well did he lie to your face about all this?" She asked, the concern evident in her voice.

"A lie of omission is still a lie."

Caroline shot him a reassuring smile. "Maybe he knew you'd figure it out on your own."

Klaus could see she was trying to lighten the situation and he appreciated her efforts. "What's done is done. Moving on." He stood up from his chair and walked around the desk, stopping beside Caroline's chair and leaning back against his desk. "Have you given any thought to what I said the other day?"

Caroline felt her face flush but she couldn't break eye contact with him, wishing he had stayed on the other side of the desk. She couldn't think straight with him standing so close to her and gazing down at her with those hungry eyes.

When she didn't immediately respond, Klaus continued. "No matter." He bent over, bracing both hands on each arm of the chair Caroline sat in, effectively trapping her in. He leaned forward until their faces were mere inches apart and smiled when he heard Caroline's breath catch in her throat. "I can be patient." He whispered and thrilled at the shiver that raced down her spine. "But I won't be idle, Caroline- don't think I won't fight for you. I'll remind you every day until you're ready to give me an answer." He said softly, breathing in her delicious scent one last time before backing up and giving her her space.

Caroline's mouth was opening and closing like a fish as her fried brain raced to find something to say but before she could, Jenna's voice rang from the door.

"I hope I'm not interrupting." She said, looking between the two with a knowing smile on her face.

"No. Nope. I was just going." Caroline said quickly, leaping out of the chair.

She raced out of the room, her heart still thumping wildly in her chest. As she sat at her desk, Caroline realized that despite what she'd told herself this morning – today couldn't be a day just like any other. They couldn't go back to the relationship they'd had before this weekend, Klaus had made that clear. Part of her had assumed he hadn't really meant it – after all there had been the infamous London cab incident. But he wasn't drunk this time and he certainly wasn't kidding. Klaus wanted her – and the certainty of that made it even harder for Caroline to deny that she wanted him too.

* * *

**Short, filler-y and not a lot of Klaroline interaction but someone made a very helpful critic about me expanding on the other characters and aspects of the story. Next one will be more exciting. **


	11. Chapter 11

Thirty steps forward, then thirty steps back. Klaus paced the length of his office like a caged animal. This had not been his week. First there was the mess with Stefan, and then there was Caroline. Watching her with Tyler was wreaking havoc on his blood pressure but his only choice in the matter was to sit and wait for her to come to him on her terms. And now he'd just gotten off the phone with Elijah.

Klaus paused and pinched the bridge of his nose. His older brother had called to let Klaus know about a news story that would break the next day. Apparently Mikael had toed the line of the law once or twice while he'd been head of the company and some fairly incriminating evidence had come to light. Elijah had known for some time about the investigation into their father but he'd done his best to keep it under wraps – mostly intent on hiding it from his siblings. Now that the police had officially brought Mikael in for questioning, the story would be out by tomorrow morning and it was only a matter of time before a trial began – a trial that would be very publicly documented by the media.

Klaus wasn't the least bit concerned about Mikael (actually he took a perverse sort of glee in the man's fall from grace) but he did care about what this mess would do to his family. He was far enough away from it all that he doubted it'd change his life all that much but to his siblings who would have to deal with the shame from their inner circles, not to mention having cameras shoved in their faces in front of court houses. Elijah would have to stay put to try to repair the damage to the company and Kol and Finn could fend for themselves but Klaus wondered if he could convince Rebekah to come stay with him for a while. The idea of his baby sister being harassed, by anyone who wasn't him, didn't sit too well with Klaus.

As if he didn't have reason enough to loathe Mikael.

Klaus paused his pacing and punched the wall. It felt good so he did it again and again until it finally cracked.

"I never did like that wall," Caroline said softly.

Klaus turned, shock obvious on his face, to face her. "Caroline. I didn't realize you were there."

She smiled at him and walked into the office as though nothing at all was wrong. Life was what a person made it, her dad had always told her. It was time to make Klaus' life a bit calmer. "I mean it. I'm happy someone finally put that arrogant wall in its place. I've slapped at it a couple of times, but it always just stands there."

Klaus let out a small laugh. "You're insane. You're aware of that, right?"

The tension in him dialed down several notches. It had the moment Caroline had walked into the room. Just bled right out of him at the sight of her standing there.

"I have no idea what you mean." She said with a smile on her face. "And you're one to talk. I'm not the one taking out my frustrations on a wall."

Her smile was replaced by a soft look before she asked, "you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really." Klaus said, not wanting to get into his family drama. It would only bring his mood back down and Caroline was doing a lovely job of bringing him up.

"Okay well, these need your signature." She said, walking over to him and handing him a stack of files.

Klaus took them, leaning back against his desk as he flipped quickly through the pages.

Caroline stood in front of him, hand on her hip, and said "I'll have someone come by to patch up the wall Hulk."

Klaus just laughed again, not looking up as his eyes scanned the documents quickly and signing where need be. A second later the door swung open and they both looked up, Caroline turning her head to see who it was.

Jenna peeked her head in and locked eyes with Caroline. "Could you tell your little friend to do his peacock strut away from my desk?"

Without waiting for an answer, Jenna disappeared and Klaus just smirked. Peacock strut was right. The kid wasn't an idiot, he'd give him that. Tyler knew competition when he saw it and it hadn't taken long for him to pick up on Klaus' intent. So whenever he came to pick up Caroline, Tyler would puff out his chest and do his best impression of a suitable mate. Not that it mattered – Tyler might have his peacock strut down but Klaus was king of the jungle.

"I see the Lockwood boy's made a habit of coming around here more often. I wonder why?" Klaus said with a smirk.

Caroline just huffed. "You know why."

She'd tried to explain to Tyler time and time again that there was nothing going on between her and Klaus but it was clear he still wasn't buying it. Maybe it was because he could pick up on the tension between them. Or maybe Caroline hadn't been all that convincing when she told him there was nothing there – she certainly hadn't convinced herself.

"Perhaps it's because he knows I want you." Klaus stepped closer to Caroline but she was frozen in place and did nothing to put any distance between them. "Maybe he knows I want to take you home with me. I want to go to the grocery store with you and buy food we can cook for dinner together. I want to watch some crap TV show and have you fall asleep against me on the couch so I can watch you and hear you breathing." Klaus took Caroline's hand in his and began lightly tracing circles around her palm. "I want to carry you to my bedroom and put you in my bed and have hours and hours with your body wrapped up in mine to do with as I please. I want to have you there in the morning so when we wake up I can make you come, saying my name. I want to drive to work with you and leave with you when we're done. And then I want to do it all over again." Klaus didn't know a lot about relationships but he knew he meant every word – he wanted to do everything with Caroline, carnal things, fun things, mundane things. He wanted everything – and that was a new sensation for Klaus.

Caroline felt her heart trying to make the great escape from her chest and she quickly yanked her hand from Klaus' grip. He didn't seem all that phased, just threw her that slow sexy grin.

"I should go take care of these before I head out for the night." She said, clutching the files to her chest as she walked backwards towards the door.

Her hand was on the doorknob when she turned around again. "And hey, if you do want to talk about it – well, you took care of that pesky wall for me so I owe you one." Caroline threw him a smile before leaving the office.

* * *

Caroline didn't do much sleeping that night, she was far too busy tossing and turning. It was right when she was climbing into bed that it hit her.

_I want __us __to be exclusive. I want to take you out and show you off. I want to be able to introduce you to my friends as my girlfriend. I want to meet your friends._

That's what Tyler had said – and it seemed so nice at the time. It was nice that he wasn't afraid to admit to wanting her in his life. It was nice that he was proud to be with her and wanted everyone to know it.

But then Klaus today and the things he wanted. God, did he make it sound so tempting. But after going back and forth on the two proclamations over and over again, Caroline realized it didn't matter what either of _them _wanted – what mattered was what _she _wanted. And after tossing and turning all night, she still didn't know what that was.

With a sigh that sounded overly dramatic even to her own ears, Caroline climbed out of bed and quickly began getting ready for work. They'd be working from his home office today so she kept it simple in a pair of fitted trousers and a cream colored blouse.

Caroline stopped for coffee on the way and had arrived at Klaus' place by 8 am. She was surprised to see him already working in his office and idly wondered if he had slept at all.

"Already up and at it." She said, walking up to his desk and handing him the steaming cup of coffee.

Klaus quickly closed all the tabs he'd been looking at. He'd gotten up early this morning and had been reading news articles and tabloids in London. There were pictures of Mikael being brought in for questioning and various speculations being cast but it was nothing too huge yet – just the occasional short article here or there. Perhaps it would blow over easy; more likely it would pick up speed if/when a trial began.

Accepting the coffee Caroline held out to him, Klaus pushed all thoughts of Mikael from his head. Elijah would do his best to handle that mess and right now Klaus needed to focus on his own business.

"Are you ready?" Klaus asked, taking a sip from his cup. It was the end of the month which meant it was company review time. Klaus liked to keep tabs on all the firm's accounts and usually reserved the end of every month to do a quick overview of all the accounts they had closed, the ones that had been opened and all the accounts still in progress. This meant hours of almost mindless busy work for him and subsequently for Caroline.

Caroline pretended to crack her neck and stretch. "I'm ready, let's do it." She said, walking over to her desk piled high with files.

They worked in relative silence for hours with nothing but the occasional joke passing between the two. It was almost five when Caroline's stomach let out a low growl. They'd been so intent on getting it all done, they had worked right through lunch.

"Should I go out and pick up something for dinner?" She asked, standing to stretch.

Klaus looked up from the documents he was reviewing and eyed Caroline, trying not to salivate at the slither of toned, creamy skin she revealed when she lifted her arms so high above her head.

"Or we could just order in." He said with a shrug, forcing himself to tear his eyes away from Caroline and look back down at the files.

"Even better." She replied, hopping out of the room to go place the order. Caroline didn't have to ask what he wanted and Klaus wasn't worried she'd choose something he didn't like. She knew the happy medium for them both.

He took the time alone to resume his earlier activities from the morning. Elijah had called a few times throughout the day but Klaus had ignored them, opting to text his brother instead. If he was being perfectly honest with himself, Klaus wasn't sure what he could possibly say to Elijah. He couldn't pretend to feel remorse for the man that had only ever rejected him. Sure Klaus felt bad for how Mikael's actions would affect the rest of the family but he couldn't extend the pity or forgiveness that Elijah would undoubtedly show their father and he wasn't ready to have that conversation with Elijah.

Klaus was still scanning a few of the news articles when the door opened again and Caroline strolled back in.

"I ordered from that sushi place it'll be here soon." Caroline said, walking over to his desk and coming to a stop in front of Klaus. "So we've got about twenty minutes to kill. Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"

"What makes you think something is bothering me?" Klaus leaned back in his chair and looked up at Caroline.

She just arched an eyebrow and shot him an expectant look. "Well there's the jumpy way you keep closing out internet tabs when I walk in the room. Not to mention you've been ignoring Elijah's many calls. And let's not forget yesterday's wall punching exhibit."

"How do you know its Elijah's calls I'm ignoring."

Caroline barely refrained from rolling her eyes. She knew it was Elijah by the way Klaus would stare briefly at his ringing cellphone before putting it back down. When he ignored anyone else it was quick but whenever he was avoiding Elijah's calls, Klaus would stare at the phone as if considering answering before placing it back down.

"That's beside the point." She replied.

"I thought you hated that wall." He shot back with a small smile.

"I do. Stop trying to change the subject. What's going on?" Caroline asked.

Klaus opened and closed his mouth before just staring at her. The two engaged in an old fashioned standoff until a shrill sound filled the room. Caroline felt her phone vibrating in her pocket as it rang but she ignored it, eyes still locked on Klaus. The ringing stopped only to start up again a second later and Klaus arched an eyebrow at her with a smirk.

"And who are you avoiding?" He asked, placing his hands behind his head.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. "No one." She said, pulling her phone from her pocket. "And this isn't over." She pointed at him before exiting the room.

"Hey Elena, what's up?" She asked, trailing slowly down the hallway as she held the phone to her ear.

"I hate to bother you but I thought you'd be done for the day. Are you still at work?"

"Yeah." Caroline said. "Did you need anything?"

There was a pause at the other end of the line before her friend spoke again. "I – well remember that huge favor you did for me two weeks ago letting me go to the benefit and all?"

"Yeah." Caroline said again, wondering where this was going.

"Well I kinda hit it off with Stefan and I would have told you about it but I didn't think anything would really come of it but then he just called to ask me out and I told him I'd think about it but I really wanted to say yes but then I thought about you and –"

"Elena, slow down. Stefan's great, that's great, what's the problem?" Caroline asked, curious as to why her friend was nervously rambling.

"Is there a problem?" Elena asked tentatively.

"I don't know. Is there?" Caroline asked, thoroughly lost now.

"Well he _is _your boss's best friend and you're basically the reason we even met and I guess I just wanted to make sure that this wouldn't be, I don't know, awkward for you or anything."

Caroline just laughed. "Elena, no. It's sweet of you to ask but why would I care? Go out with him. He's great, you'll like him."

She heard her friend let out a sigh of relief and Caroline chuckled again. The elevator dinged and she said a quick goodbye to Elena before speeding over to the elevator to meet the delivery guy.

Klaus looked up as Caroline re-entered the room and walked over to his desk, placing all the food down. She'd waited until they were all settled before fixing him with another look.

"So are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

Klaus swallowed a bite before turning back to his computer and tapping away. For a moment, Caroline thought he was ignoring the question again before he turned the screen to face her.

He watched her scan the article quickly before looking back up at him with an understanding look in her eyes. "This blows."

Klaus couldn't stop the slight laugh that bubbled forward. He was oddly grateful for her succinct response. The situation did in fact 'blow.'

"You know, you've never told me about your dad." Klaus pointed out. Caroline talked about her mom often but she'd only ever brought up her dad once or twice.

She threw him a small smile. "He was…cool in his own way. My mom was always the stern one but my dad – he wasn't around as much but when he was around we had a blast. I love my mom and she was always there for me but my dad…I don't know, he kind of shaped who I am." Caroline shrugged.

"Well he did an amazing job." Klaus said intently as he watched the phenomenal woman sitting across from him. He didn't know if he should thank her dad, her mom or whatever powerful being had crafted such a person but Klaus was incredibly grateful for Caroline.

"You turned out okay yourself." She shot back with a cheeky smile, taking another bite of her empire roll.

Klaus just scoffed. "Who I am is in spite of Mikael not because of him." He said, standing up from his chair.

Caroline watched as he disappeared from the room and returned with a bottle of wine in hand.

"So I guess the work day is over." She said as she watched him pop open the bottle.

Klaus just grinned as he poured two glasses before handing Caroline one. He placed the bottle down before leaning back against the desk, looking down at Caroline sitting in the chair in front of him.

"And what should we toast to?" He asked, tilting his glass forward.

Caroline stood up to join him, leaning back against the desk. "To the people we are. However we got here – we're here." They clinked glasses and sipped the wine.

Klaus quickly lowered his glass and trained his gaze on Caroline, watching her little pink tongue dart out to catch a stray drop of wine perched on her plump lower lip. "You truly are remarkable, you know that?"

Caroline flushed and looked down at the carpet, placing her glass down on the desk. When she looked up again Klaus seemed even closer, his blue eyes locked on hers. His eyes shot down to her lips before trailing back up to her eyes as if he were asking permission. Caroline stayed frozen in place. She knew what was coming but she didn't want to stop it. Didn't want to stop _him_.

One peek at the willingness in her eyes and Klaus abandoned all restraint. One hand tangled in the long, silky strands of her hair, tilting her head back as his lips claimed hers. He devoured her. His tongue slid past her lips as the sharp flare of heat at her scalp had her gasping in pleasure. His calloused hands moved from her hair to frame her face, holding her still as his tongue invaded her mouth with decadent hunger. It swirled around her own, exploring the silky depths of her mouth. His tongue, like velvet, was tempting her, teasing her as it stroked in and out, mimicking a much more earthy, carnal act.

There were mere kisses and then there was a conquering. This kiss conquered. Klaus used his lips, teeth and tongue to claim her mouth as though it were created for him alone. And her mouth was in no hurry to disagree. She arched in his arms, burying her fingers in his hair, gorging herself on the pleasure of his soft lips. His head tilted, his lips slanting against hers as he groaned deeply into her mouth.

Heat surged through Klaus' body as he pulled Caroline closer, nibbling at her lower lip. God, she tasted sweet - that perfect red bow of a mouth tasting better than anything he could have imagined. His tongue delved deep, and she accepted, her fingers plunging into his hair and pulling him impossibly closer. Nothing but soft, sweet whimpers came from her throat as she held on, her body writhing restlessly against him. Even when he pulled away momentarily to breath, Klaus couldn't get enough. He kissed her mouth, her nose, her chin, and her throat. All of her tasted sweet on his lips.

Klaus trailed bites and kisses up her neck, savoring the delectable taste of her skin, before plundering her mouth again. He lips came crashing down on hers in another fierce kiss as Klaus swallowed her whimpers.

Seconds later, Caroline was hitting him on chest. "Wait, wait, stop."

Klaus ripped his hands away from her body and stepped back. Caroline caught the crushed look in his eyes and quickly tried to rectify the situation.

"No that's not what I meant." She said, stepping closer to him and closing the bit of distance he had put between them. "I want this." Caroline gave him a small smile. "But I have to talk to Tyler first. I can't be that girl." She said shaking her head.

Klaus felt a crushing weight lift from his chest. He couldn't remember feeling quite as dejected as he had in that moment when Caroline pushed him away. But now it sounded like she was saying she wanted to give them a chance and it was a good thing too because Klaus was already addicted to her lips and he was certain that there'd be no going back for him.

"Well if that's all, call him now then." He said, lifting the phone on his desk and holding it out to Caroline.

She just rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to break up with him over the phone. You're insensitive." Caroline said, taking the phone from him and hanging it up again.

"No, I'm desperate." Klaus said, moving forward quickly until their bodies were pressed against each other again. "I'm hopeless and infatuated and hungry for you Caroline." He buried his nose in her neck, breathing in her scent as his hands trailed slowly up her sides.

Caroline almost let herself slip into that delicious haze again before she remembered why she had stopped them the first time.

"Uh-uh." She said, pushing him away again but this time Klaus just smiled.

Caroline took a few deep, calming breaths, trying not to focus on the way his hair was mussed up from her fingers or the way his lips were swollen from her kisses or that ravenous twinkle in his eyes. "I should go." She said, running over to her desk and snatching up her purse.

Klaus led her to the elevator in silence but pulled her back before she could step into the steel car. He pulled her into his arms, a hand trailing lightly down her spine.

"Promise me you'll come back. Tonight, Caroline." He said softly, grazing his lips across her cheek.

"Okay." She whispered almost breathlessly. She would have promised Klaus anything with him touching her like that.

Klaus freed her from his grip, smirking at the disoriented look in her eyes. He'd put that look in her eyes and he had every intention of doing it again and again and again.

"I'll see you tonight." Caroline said softly, stepping in to the elevator.

Once she made it outside, Caroline whipped out her phone and tried to call Tyler to let him know she was coming over. When he didn't pick up she shot him a text and when that got no response, Caroline called again. She called a few more times during the cab ride before deciding he must have gotten at least one of her voicemails and knew she was coming over.

Throwing the cab driver a few bills, Caroline jogged up the steps to Tyler's apartment building. She walked through the eloquent lobby and got on the elevator. It wasn't until she was walking down the hall that Caroline realized she had no idea what she was going to say. Tyler was great and if there had been no Klaus then there was no doubt in Caroline's mind that she would have had a long and healthy relationship with Tyler. But he never made her feel the way Klaus had when he kissed her in his office. Tyler didn't set her boiling or her heart racing the way Klaus did.

Taking a fortifying breath, Caroline rang the bell to Tyler's apartment and waited. When there was no response she rung it again and wondered if Tyler was even home. She was about to turn around and leave when the door finally swung open.

It took her a matter of seconds to take in Tyler's appearance and her jaw almost dropped. He was in pajama pants and a rumpled tee shirt that suggested he may not have left the apartment all day but that wasn't what surprised Caroline. It was his face. His eyes were blood red and his jaw was unshaven. Tyler gave her a blank stare before stepping back and walking into the apartment. Caroline looked on in confusion before finally walking inside and shutting the door behind her.

"Tyler?" She said but he didn't turn around, just walked into the living room. "Tyler, what's going on?"

Caroline followed him into the living room and watched as he collapsed onto the couch.

"What happened?" She asked as she walked over and sat beside him on the couch.

Silence filled the room but Tyler remained silent. Looking around, Caroline realized the place was destroyed. Glass littered the floor from where the coffee table had shattered and soil covered the wall and floor where the potted plant had clearly been thrown.

"Tyler?" She asked softly again, slowly wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"My parents." He finally spoke but his voice was hoarse and flat. "Their jet went down."

Caroline gasped, a hand going to her mouth.

"They're dead."

He hadn't said the words out loud yet but once they passed his lips, Tyler collapsed against Caroline, the tears running freely down his face again.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." Caroline ran her hand down his back as Tyler's shoulders shook.

She thought of where she'd been early that night, what she'd come here to do, and Caroline nearly vomited. Tyler had lost both his parents and had holed up in this apartment alone for hours while she'd been off doing…

She shook her head, chasing away the errant thoughts. That wasn't what was important right now. Tyler was in her arms. And he was suffering.

* * *

**Well I couldn't make things easy for them. So, thoughts? **


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm just going to take a moment to clear something up because a few comments have sort of brought it up. This is M - rated. I wouldn't call my sex scenes gratuitous but I also think I fall on the far side of that M rating. Not like I'm intentionally being salacious but I write how I write so...sorry for the belated warning but I'm sure it's the type of thing you can scroll right over if you're not interested in that. All just for future reference.  
**

* * *

"How long are you going to keep this up Caroline?"

Sitting on a stool at their kitchen counter, Caroline sighed into her cup of coffee before looking back up at Elena. Her friend fixed her with a stern look but Caroline shot back a blank stare.

"What do you mean?"

Elena rolled her eyes. "You know exactly what I mean."

There was another beat of silence before she asked again. "How long, Caroline?"

"For however long it takes." She said, lifting her cup to her lips.

Elena moved around the kitchen, fixing her own cup of coffee. "It's been two weeks."

"Exactly. It's only been two weeks. He lost his parents, Elena." She reasoned, folding her arms on the countertop. "And I thought you liked Tyler?"

Elena came to stand across from her friend again. "I do like Tyler. But after what you told me happened with Klaus…look Caroline, if I thought you genuinely had feelings for Tyler than –"

Caroline cut her off with a wave of her hand. "I do genuinely have feelings for him."

Elena threw her a stern look. "But not like the feelings you have for Klaus." She pointed out and Caroline, unable to refute that, stayed silent. "All I'm saying is I don't want to see you disregard what you want for someone else's sake. You're not staying with Tyler because you want to, you're staying with him because you feel obligated to and Caroline," Elena leaned over on the counter to take Caroline's hand in hers "he is not your responsibility."

"That's pretty cold hearted Elena." Caroline said, cradling her cup. "I thought you of all people would understand."

Elena had lost both her parents in a car accident and Caroline had expected her friend to understand what Tyler was going through having gone through the same thing herself in high school.

"I do understand, which is why I'm telling you all of this. Do you remember how things went with Matt and I after I lost my mom and dad?" Elena said, propping her hip against the counter and swallowing back the hint of sadness that crept in whenever she thought about her parents – even after all this time.

"I don't think our mutual ex-boyfriend is a good example, Elena." Caroline pointed out. "You pushed Matt away because you needed space. Tyler isn't pushing me away. He doesn't need space – he needs comfort. He needs me."

"All the more reason to let go now." Elena explained. "The more you let him rely on you, the harder it's going to be."

Caroline sighed and Elena walked around the counter to hug her around the shoulder. They stayed in silence like this for a few minutes before Elena spoke again.

"I have to run soon." She said, peeking at her watch before throwing Caroline a grin. "I'm meeting Stefan for breakfast uptown."

Caroline slammed her palm into her face and let out a groan. "I've been so self-absorbed lately I never asked, how have things been going with you two?"

Elena couldn't stop the grin that took over her face. Stefan had taken her out a few times over the last two weeks and though she kept telling herself it was too soon to get excited, Elena couldn't control the way her pulse sped up and her stomach fluttered when she thought of him. Stefan had been a model gentleman moving things along slowly but Elena was ready to dive in full force.

"It's been going…really well." Elena said, her shoulders bouncing a little in contained excitement.

Caroline smiled the first genuine smile Elena had seen from her in days. "I'm happy for you." And she was. Stefan was a good guy.

Elena hugged her friend once more before snatching up her purse. "I'll see you later." She said with a wave and Caroline nodded as Elena headed toward the door.

Caroline finished her coffee before hopping off the stool. She'd delayed the inevitable for as long as she could – she had to go to work. And work these past two weeks had been complicated to say the very least.

* * *

Patience wasn't a word people often associated with Klaus. He was fast in deciding what he wanted and even faster in going after it. Waiting wasn't something Klaus was particularly good at but he waited for Caroline. He took things slow and he waited – up until that night two weeks ago. All his patience was supposed to have paid off – Caroline was supposed to be his.

Klaus could still feel her on his lips, her taste light and sweet – addicting. He felt her silky strands beneath his fingertips and her full breasts pressed to his chest. He still felt her nails raking down his back and her hips brushing his. It was enough to drive even the most steady man insane.

Two weeks. It felt a lot longer. That first night when Caroline hadn't returned Klaus' emotions had run the full gambit from clear panic to overwhelming disappointment. He called and called with no response from Caroline. Left alone with his own thoughts – Klaus was filled with panic at the thought that she had changed her mind, that she regretted the line they had crossed. That panic had only escalated when he considered the possibility that something worse had happened and Caroline was hurt somewhere. The relief he felt when Caroline finally called after midnight was immediately replaced by devastating disappointment when she explained what had happened. After a while, that disappointment morphed into rage. Not at the recently orphaned Tyler – even Klaus pitied his situation. And not at Caroline – she was too inherently good for Klaus to even consider the possibility that she would walk away from Tyler in his broken state. No, Klaus' rage was directed at the fates. He thought it had been hard before – pining for Caroline with a ferocity Klaus hadn't realized he was capable of. But it was far worse now to have had Caroline, to have had everything he wanted in his arms for that brief moment – only to have it all ripped away from him. To be taunted by remembered kisses and phantom touches was far worse than living with only his imagination of what having Caroline would be like. Klaus was better off before. Except – he wouldn't take back that night for anything. He'd live with the torture of the memory – he'd torment himself nightly reliving it. Because every moment had been completely worth it. If anything, the torment only spurred him on. So far as he was concerned, that one kiss had been the first of many to come. Klaus was done being patient.

* * *

Caroline clutched a stack of papers to her chest as she sped walked down the hall back towards the executive offices. She'd managed to stay busy enough to avoid Klaus for the most part. It helped that he was booked solid in meetings for the morning.

'I just need time.' That's what she had told him that night. And Klaus had been surprisingly accommodating, keeping their professional relationship…professional. Granted, her skin still flushed if he looked at her too long and a shiver still raced down her spine every time his hand brushed hers. But in those moments, Caroline reminded herself that she'd been cheating on her boyfriend while he dealt with the biggest tragedy of his life and that did a pretty good job of dousing the flames. At least, until the next time Klaus would touch her.

And so Caroline thought she was playing it safe by avoiding Klaus when she could. She timed it so that she was running errands while he was in his office and would usually only return to her desk when he was in a meeting or at a conference. Which is why she was walking back to her desk now. 2:00, Klaus had a board meeting with the head of one of their major accounts.

And yet, Caroline realized as she strode down the hall, there was Klaus walking toward her. She unconsciously sucked in a deep breath, taking in the way he moved. Caroline knew that walk – it was his determined walk. Just as he reached her, Klaus wrapped his fingers around Caroline's arm and pulled her through a nearby door. Caroline glanced around the small conference room, one of the few that didn't have glass walls and doors. Klaus and the other executives used this room for private meetings – which is apparently what they were about to have.

Klaus shut the door behind them before pushing Caroline back against it and stepping so close their shoes were touching. Again Caroline sucked in a breath, her pulse racing now and a flush creeping up her neck and invading her cheeks.

There was a moment of silence while Klaus just breathed in her scent. That intoxicating scent – a hint of vanilla, undertones of peaches, 100% Caroline. Klaus hadn't been this close to her in weeks and he sucked in that scent like a man starved for it. Before he could stop himself Klaus nuzzled into her neck, inhaling deeply. He felt her pulse there start beating faster and lightly brushed his lips against it before pulling back and locking eyes with Caroline.

"What are we doing, Caroline?" He asked in a low voice. He'd waited two weeks but Klaus suspected he had reached his limit.

"I need more time." Caroline said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"More time?" Klaus scoffed, making it clear that wasn't the answer he wanted.

"It's only been two weeks."

Without breaking their stare, Klaus reached a hand up to toy with a strand of Caroline's hair, reveling in the soft feel. "**Only **two weeks? Would you have me continue to suffer, then? Would you sentence me to more sleepless nights – my dreams all haunted by you?" His voice was soft as he tucked the strand behind her ear, pausing to caress her cheek. "Is that what you want, Caroline?"

And for the first time in the last two weeks, Caroline realized what she was doing. She'd been so wrapped up in Tyler, she hadn't realized how unfair she was being to Klaus. She couldn't ask him to wait for her indefinitely. It'd be wrong to ask that of anyone – let alone Klaus whose sexual prowess was an innate part of who he was. Celibacy wasn't his thing. Hell, she wasn't even sure monogamy was his thing. Like everything else in his life Klaus would have tired of her eventually, Caroline reasoned with herself, so what was the point in making him wait? They were only delaying the inevitable.

She sighed, swallowing heavily before speaking again. "You're right, I can't ask you to wait for me. It's not exactly in your nature and you're a free man so…" Caroline spoke softly and tried to force a laugh at the end to lighten her words.

Klaus, however, was in no mood to laugh. In fact, he was livid that even after all this time Caroline could still doubt him so easily. He gripped her hands in his and growled, "Don't you dare do that, Caroline. Don't undermine us. I'm not moving on. I'm not going away."

Caroline gave a half hearted shrug. "I wouldn't blame you if you did. Never too late to go back to that little black book, right?" She said, trying to hide behind humor again.

Klaus' eyes dimmed and he dipped his head a little as he spoke, looking down at their entwined hands. "Do you think you'll ever be able to accept my past? Or is it all too sordid for you?" he asked quietly.

"Your past. My present. We've got a lot working against us."

"We have a future together, Caroline."

Not knowing what to say to that Caroline remained silent- the two content to continue their quiet stare down. Another minute passed before the sound of Klaus' phone ringing filled the room. He made no move to answer it and the shrill sound eventually stopped.

"You're late." Caroline murmured beneath her breath.

"I know." Klaus replied just as softly.

"You should go."

"I should."

When he showed no signs of moving, Caroline realized it'd be up to her to break the spell or they'd be in here all day. Reaching behind her, Caroline turned the knob and opened the door a crack before pausing again.

"Thank you." She said, looking down at her other hand in his and then back up to Klaus' eyes. "I know this can't be easy for you."

Klaus freed his hand from Caroline's to cup her face in his palms. "When will you learn, sweetheart, there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you."

She gave him a small smile before opening the door and stepping out of the room. Klaus watched her go before heading off toward his meeting.

Jenna, seated at her desk at the head of the executive offices suite, watched with prying eyes as Caroline and Klaus exited conference room C. She waited until Caroline was in front of her desk before she spoke.

"Well aren't you two the illicit little office affair." Jenna said with a smirk that earned her a glare from Caroline.

"You have an overactive imagination." She said to the older woman, leaning forward on her desk.

Jenna narrowed her eyes up at Caroline. She didn't have an overactive imagination – she had keen senses. "Oh I don't know, the way you two look at each other doesn't leave much to the imagination."

"I'm with Tyler." Caroline said, employing her 'no nonsense' tone.

"Where has the little guy been lately anyway?" Jenna asked, genuinely curious. She hadn't seen Tyler in weeks.

Caroline didn't know quite how to answer that question. It wasn't really her place to air Tyler's grief. When he got back, if he wanted people to know, he'd tell them himself. So with no response to give, Caroline just threw Jenna a pointed look.

"Don't you have work to do?" She asked, finally walking past Jenna's desk and further into the executive suite towards her desk.

"Don't think this is over." Jenna chimed over her shoulder. A warning Caroline explicitly ignored. Nothing was ever over with Jenna – she always dug until she found the truth.

* * *

The next day Klaus sat back in his chair and glanced at his watch. 6:00. It was 11:00 in London. Picking up the phone on his desk, Klaus dialed Rebekah's number – one of the few numbers he knew by heart. It rang twice before his sister's voice drifted through.

She didn't bother with empty pleasantries. Rebekah never did with him. "Please tell me you're coming home, Nik" was the first thing she said.

Klaus propped his legs up on the desk, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. "We've talking about this, Rebekah. You know I won't do that." In the face of everything that was going on, both his mother and Elijah wanted Klaus back in London and had enlisted Rebekah to do the job. It was an admiral effort on their part but not something Klaus would fall for. Rebekah sighed and Klaus could picture her rolling her eyes.

Ignoring her dramatic huff, Klaus said "You should come here. Stay with me for a while."

"And run from a fight? Not exactly my style, Nik."

"This isn't your fight, Bekah." He shot back, feeling his anger at Mikael bubble to the surface again.

Silence descended on the other end of the line before Klaus spoke again. "How are you holding up?"

"I've been better but I've been worse." Rebekah replied, keeping her voice light. She knew Klaus worried about her so she tried to make light of the situation but Mikael's arrest had spawned a number of problems for the family. Things had only gotten worse when he was released on bail. A few dedicated cameramen camped out on their lawn, shoving their cameras in the face of anyone that walked out the front door. Not to mention there was the looming fear that all their assets would be frozen pending a full investigation. Family scandal, family shame. It was exhausting.

"That's not very reassuring." Klaus replied.

Rebekah ignored that comment and instead said, "You should call, Elijah."

"I will." Klaus said, knowing full well he wouldn't. He loved his brother but this entire debacle with their father had put a strain on their relationship. He knew Elijah's stance on it. 'No man can climb out beyond the limitations of his own character', 'to err is human, to forgive is divine' – Klaus simply couldn't stomach anymore platitudes. Mikael didn't want, need, or deserve his forgiveness.

Wanting to change the subject, Klaus asked Rebekah about her week and as expected his sister decided to regale him with a complete blow by blow update of her life – from her latest love interest to which of her socialite friends she was over. Klaus half listened to his sister ramble on for almost twenty minutes before his door opened and Stefan strolled in.

"Bekah, I'm going to have to call you back. Consider my offer – you have a room at my place for as long as you want it."

She chimed a quick goodbye and Klaus hung up the phone, dropping his feet to the floor as Stefan fell into the seat across from him.

"Was that Rebekah? Is she coming here? Have things gotten that bad?" The questions were out before Stefan realized he was asking them. When Klaus first told him about his father's arrest (and every day since then) Stefan had considered calling Rebekah to check in on how she was doing. There were a few times he had even dialed the number but failed to hit send. Her life right now was chaotic enough without Stefan adding himself to the equation. Again. And chaotic was exactly what their relationship had always been. Frenzied and wild, passionate and reckless. It was a side of Stefan that only ever came out around Rebekah. The affect she had on him was beyond his reasoning and Stefan had long since stopped trying to understand it. But none of that stopped the spike of curiosity that shot through him when he realized Klaus had been on the phone with Rebekah.

Klaus arched an eyebrow at his friend and crossed his hands on the desk in front of him. "Yes well, high society loves nothing more than a fall from grace. The more public it is the better. You should probably take note – what with your recent activities and all."

Stefan ignored the slight to his character. What he and Damon were doing, they were doing out of necessity not greed. Once everything was squared away, they'd stop toeing the line of legality. Mikael, on the other hand, was pure scum. In Stefan's mind – there was no comparison. "So Rebekah – she's coming to stay in New York?"

"I'm trying to convince her to come out here for the duration of the trial but you know how stubborn she can be." Klaus said, leaning back in his chair and shooting his friend a pointed look. "Although, you seem overly interested in that possibility. Careful Stefan, aren't you seeing Elena now?"

Yes, he was 'seeing' Elena – so to speak. And she was great. Funny, kind, adorable really. But none of that changed how he felt about Rebekah – nothing ever would, and not for lack of trying. "Actually, Elena is why I dropped by. I wanted to run some ideas for our next date by Caroline."

"Well, you just missed her. She's gone home for the night."

Klaus said 'home' but the truth was, he had no idea where Caroline was at the moment. He wanted to believe that she was home – preferably in bed thinking about him the way he spent most nights thinking about her. But part of him knew where she really was. Caroline was with _him_. Klaus desperately hoped something between them changed soon because it was only a matter of time before his current predicament drove him insane.

* * *

Caroline walked down the street towards Tyler's building and tried to ignore the heavy weight of guilt that crept up on her every time she went to see him. Guilt about what she'd done with Klaus. Guilt about the fact that she wanted to do it again. Guilt over all the feelings she kept buried. She'd done a pretty good job of stomaching the guilt so far – hiding behind helping with the funeral and cleaning up the apartment and throwing out all the access sympathy casseroles. But there was only so long Caroline could carry on this facade.

It wasn't until she was in front of Tyler's building that Caroline saw a familiar face. Tyler's uncle Mason, climbed onto his motorcycle, his duffel bag hanging off the back. Walking quickly over to him, she waved to get his attention.

"Caroline." Mason said, climbing off the bike and back onto the street to stand in front of her.

"Hey Mason," she said by way of greeting before looking past him and at his bag. "Going somewhere?"

He looked away from her, glancing down the street and running his hand over his short hair. "Yeah, I think it's time for me to head out of town."

Tyler had explained, when Mason first showed up, that his father's younger brother was a bit of a nomad but Caroline had expected him to stick around for more than two weeks. His brother's body was barely cold in the ground. His only nephew had no one left to rely on.

"Does Tyler know?" Caroline asked, her arms instinctively crossing over her chest.

"He knows." Mason nodded. "He understands. This life" he waved his hand out, "it's not really my thing."

Caroline gave a disbelieving scoff. "You can't just leave. You're his family. You're his _only_ family. Or is family not your 'thing'?"

She knew she might be overstepping her boundaries but Mason just shrugged as if he wasn't the least bit put off by being chastised by a girl he hardly knew.

"And now you're his family." Mason said, patting Caroline on the shoulder. "I've seen how you look out for him, Caroline. He's lucky to have you in his life."

She held up a hand, waving it in his face. "Woah! You seem to have gotten the wrong impression of my relationship with Tyler. We're nowhere near family. We were only dating for a few weeks before all this happened." Caroline said, gesturing wildly with her arms. She left out the part about how she'd been about to dump Tyler right beforehand. And the part about how she'd kissed someone else. And the part about how she had overwhelmingly intense feelings for that someone else. Though as far as being a good person went, Caroline was still pretty sure she was leagues ahead of Mason right now.

"That's how we Lockwoods fall in love. Hard and fast." Mason clapped her on the shoulder once more before climbing back on his bike. By the time Caroline regained her faculties, he was already gone.

She let out an incredulous huff before spinning on her heel and entering the building. As she rode the elevator up to Tyler's floor, Caroline couldn't help the sense of panic that crept in when she thought about what Mason had said. She most definitely did not love Tyler and up until that little talk with Mason, Caroline had been pretty sure Tyler didn't love her either. They had still been in the getting to know each other phase before this catastrophe had struck. But what if Mason was right? What if Lockwoods were the love at first sight type? Add on to that Tyler's grieving state and there was a very real chance that he might have convinced himself he loved her. Elena's warning from yesterday floated to the forefront of Caroline's mind. The longer this went on – the harder it'd be to get out with minimal damage inflicted.

"Damn it, Elena." Caroline muttered beneath her breath.

The elevator slid open with a ding and Caroline walked out, Elena and Mason's words still ringing in her head. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she tried to pinpoint just when the walk down Tyler's hallway had started to feel like the walk of doom. She'd only rung the bell once before the door swung open and Tyler stepped aside to let her in. He was out of bed and showered which was a step up from last week. He'd even taken the time to shave and Caroline wistfully hoped that this meant he was getting better. Though 'better' for someone in his situation could only mean so much.

"Hey." She said softly.

Tyler leaned over to peck her quickly on the lips before taking Caroline's hand and leading her into the living room. She glanced at the coffee table where a glass of amber liquid sat beside a half empty bottle of whiskey.

"Have you eaten yet?" Caroline asked, hoping he wasn't getting drunk on an empty stomach. She might not love Tyler but watching him spiral like this was still pretty painful.

"Yeah, I wanted to show you something." Tyler said, dropping her hand and striding over to a box in the corner.

Caroline stood there confused for a moment while he rummaged around. She was about to break the silence when Tyler finally stood straight again, walking back over to her.

"With everything that's happened and everything you've done – I just wanted to show you how much I appreciate it." Tyler took her hand in his and turned it palm up before dropping a necklace into it. "I want you to have this."

Caroline held up the gold chain and stared at the sparkling pendant that hung from it. "Oh my God, Tyler. It's beautiful." She said, already trying to find a polite way to say she couldn't accept. Right now really wasn't the time to start taking expensive gifts from him.

"It was my mother's." Tyler muttered softly and Caroline almost dropped the necklace like it was on fire.

If she had any doubts about accepting it before, she most definitely knew she wouldn't be taking it now.

"Tyler, I can't accept this." She said, trying and failing to shove it back into his hand.

"I want you to have it." He replied, closing her palm around it. "She would have wanted you to have it." Tyler's fingers rubbed her hand and he seemed to be contemplating something before he continued. "It's a shame my mom never got to meet you. She would have loved you."

Caroline felt tears well up in her eyes and she wasn't sure if it was out of frustration or sadness or both. "You're not thinking clearly." She said, grasping at straws. "You shouldn't start giving your parents' things away."

"Caroline, I want you to have it." Tyler said sternly.

She shook her head slowly. "I don't think I should have it."

"What's this about Caroline?" He asked, throwing her an inquisitive look. "You've been a little off lately and it's not just about this necklace."

"Please just take it back, Tyler." She held the necklace out to him but Tyler ignored it.

"What's going on, Caroline?"

"Nothing is going on!" She said, though her shrill tone probably wasn't the most reassuring thing.

There was a moment of silence as Tyler stared at her. She was the emotions flitting through his eyes. Enquiring. Recognition. Hurt. Anger.

"It's him, isn't it?" Tyler asked softly, taking a step back from Caroline.

"Tyler –"

"Don't!" He cut her off, still walking backward away from her. "Don't lie to me Caroline."

"I –"

Again, he cut her off before she could explain. Not that she could explain. "Do you want to be with me or not?" Tyler asked slowly.

Caroline looked across the room at him with sad eyes, her mouth opening and closing as she struggled to find the words to say. It didn't matter because Tyler had apparently seen all he needed to see.

"Get out."

Swallowing back a sob, Caroline started to speak again. "Tyler-"

"GET OUT!" Tyler shouted and suddenly he was moving faster than Caroline could comprehend. He lifted the glass of amber liquid from the coffee table and a moment later Caroline felt it whiz past her and hit the wall. The glass shattered right beside her shoulder, drops of whiskey and shards of glass landing on her. If she hadn't been so shocked, Caroline might have felt the tiny bits of glass cutting into the skin at her neck. She knew he wasn't aiming for her but an inch to the right and the flying glass would have shattered against her face instead of the wall.

Dropping the necklace to the ground, Caroline spun around and raced toward the door. It wasn't until she was outside that the tears started streaming down her face. She wasn't quite sure if she was crying for herself or Tyler. Maybe both.

Caroline flagged down a cab and jumped in the back, trying in vain to wipe the tears from her face. She could wipe them away but new ones would appear in their place. Her voice wavering, Caroline somehow managed to ramble off her address to the driver who was doing a fine job of pretending she wasn't having a breakdown in his backseat. It wasn't until five minutes later that Caroline had a change of heart and rambled off a different address.

Half an hour later, she hopped out of the cab in front of Klaus' building. Caroline belatedly realized she hadn't called to let him know she was coming over, but she really couldn't be alone right now and, well, she was already here. She didn't have to worry about him not being home because the front desk buzzed to let him know she was coming up.

Caroline took a good look at herself in the elevator mirrors and almost regretted coming over. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were splotching. No one could accuse Caroline Forbes of being an attractive crier. Before she could do anything about her ruined makeup and tear-stained face, the elevator reached the penthouse and slid open with a soft ding.

Klaus, who had been surprised to get the call from the front desk, stood in front of the elevator waiting for her. His mind raced through a number of reasons why she'd be stopping by unannounced – some good, some bad. By the time the elevator finally slid up Klaus had worked himself into knots but once he caught sight of her standing there, all that disappeared.

"Caroline?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Much love and many thanks to my beta Kristen (sweetklausoline). Also, just full of gratitude to my reviewers - especially you super great folks who review every chapter, I'm obsessed with you guys. **

* * *

"Caroline?"

Caroline stepped out of the elevator to stand in front of Klaus. She looked him up and down, noticing he'd changed out of his suit from earlier and into a pair of black jeans and a Henley t-shirt. Her first thought was that she had dropped in on him when he was on his way out and Caroline immediately felt uncomfortable.

"Caroline, what's going on?" Klaus asked, the concern clear in his voice.

Her mind was still a little foggy and Caroline said the first thing that came to mind. "I broke up with Tyler."

Klaus' eyebrows shot up in surprise before he reached out and took Caroline's hand, pulling her against him. She went willingly, breathing a little easier in his arms.

"Are you okay?" Klaus asked and Caroline just nodded against his chest.

Wanting to be sure, Klaus tilted her head back and stared down into her eyes before asking again. "Are you okay?"

This time Klaus didn't give her a chance to answer when he noticed something and was speaking again. "Caroline, you're bleeding." He slid her hair back from her neck and was surprised to see a tiny piece of glass embedded there.

Klaus felt his rage spike and asked his next question slowly, praying for the sake of his sanity and Tyler's health that his assumption was wrong. "Did he do that?"

Caroline didn't need to answer for Klaus to know. He had never really believed a man could see red but in that moment his vision took on a dangerously red tint. "I'm going to kill him." Klaus growled, stepping back from Caroline with every intention of moving toward the elevator.

Caroline shifted quickly, burying her face in his neck, gripping her arms around his ribs and holding on tight. "Let it go, please." She mumbled into his chest.

Klaus wrapped stiff arms around her, unable to ignore her affectionate gesture, even in a blinding rage. Two deep breaths later, he was leading Caroline further into the penthouse and toward the kitchen. Gripping her waist in his hands, Klaus lifted her onto the countertop before storming over to the sink area.

Caroline watched on in confused silence as Klaus slammed cabinets open and closed before reappearing in front of her with a small first aid kit. "What happened?" His voice was gruff, hardly concealing his rage, as Klaus popped open the first aid kit and pulled out the rubbing alcohol.

"Nothing." She said quickly.

Klaus used a pair of tweezers to pull the tiny bit of glass out and Caroline winced a little. That one little twitch had his rage flaring again and Klaus felt his entire body tense. He cleaned the small wound and slid a Band-Aid over it before speaking again.

"Tell me what happened." It wasn't a question anymore. He needed to know.

Caroline weighed the decision to tell him or not before finally sighing in resignation. "He threw a glass."

Klaus hadn't thought he could get more livid. He was wrong. Without registering what he was doing, Klaus found himself moving to leave again.

And again Caroline clenched her fingers around his shirt, hopping off the countertop and pulling him against her. "Things are bad enough already, let's not make it any worse. Please. Besides, wouldn't you rather stay here and make sure I'm alright?" It was a low blow but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Caroline watched Klaus fight an internal war with himself. He was wrestling with his desire to stay by her side and his strong urge to tear Tyler limb from limb.

"Please?" She whispered against his chest again.

And the decision was made. Klaus dipped his head, burying his face in her hair before nuzzling down to whisper in her ear. "What do you need?"

"Lay with me?"

"Of course, sweetheart." Klaus said, chastising himself for not taking into account what she needed sooner. He'd been so overcome with his own anger, Klaus had almost forgotten what was really important. If she needed him to just lay with her, he'd happily do that.

"Come on." He said, freeing Caroline from his embrace and taking her hand in his before leading her down the hall.

As Klaus led her up the stairs, Caroline realized something. "You know, I've never been in your bedroom." She pointed out.

"You'll be the first woman to ever step foot in there."

Caroline snorted in disbelief at the outrageous claim. "We both know that's a lie."

Klaus looked over his shoulder at her as they reached the second floor landing. "It's not. I don't take women into my bedroom, I use the guest bedroom across the hall when I have…guests over." He said, wishing he hadn't brought up his past conquests to begin with.

Caroline's eyebrows arched and she threw him a shocked look that quickly turned into a pleased one. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but it made Caroline inexplicably happy that he was affording her a courtesy he hadn't given any other woman.

Klaus smiled back, pulling her down the hallway again.

"Are you sure you want me in there then?" Caroline asked, as they came to a stop in front of a heavy mahogany door.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

Caroline took in the serious look in his eyes and tried to lighten the mood with a joke. "Not the kind of thing you can take back, Klaus. Once I cross that threshold, your inner sanctum would have been invaded by the opposite sex."

Klaus held back a growl of frustration. "There you go again, undermining us." He stepped closer to Caroline, cupping her face in his hands. "You're not just any woman Caroline."

He didn't give her a chance to respond before swinging the door open and stepping inside, Caroline trailing in behind him.

Caroline's head shot from side to side as she took in the room. The largest bed she'd ever seen sat in the middle of the room, the oak headboard and dark blue sheets matching the earthy tones of the room. The huge bay windows were covered by dark blue drapes.

Klaus watched her inspect the place and couldn't hold back his small smile. Nothing about having Caroline in his bedroom felt wrong. In fact, it felt incredibly right. He could picture her here every day. Part of him never wanted to let her leave. Klaus watched her look around for a moment longer before disappearing into his walk-in closet. When he came back out, Caroline was fingering a picture on his bedside table.

"You'll be more comfortable in these." Klaus held out a pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt. "The bathroom's right through there." He gestured to another door across the room.

Caroline took the clothes with a mumbled thank you before walking over to the bathroom. The bathroom was just as opulent as the rest of the master suite. A huge, rounded marble bathtub, black marble floors, two glistening white sinks, a glass shower off to the corner. Caroline couldn't fathom why any one person could need so much space. She slipped out of her pencil skirt and blouse before pulling the tee shirt over her head. The shirt fell to her mid-thighs and Caroline glanced once at the sweatpants before opting against them.

Back in the bedroom, Klaus tried not to picture Caroline stripping down on the other side of that door. As long as he had waited for this moment, Klaus knew she was still too raw from the break-up and he had no intention of taking advantage of that fact. It didn't matter how delectable she looked in his clothes or how amazing her body would feel cuddled up against his. Klaus was a fully grown man with a handle on his urges even when it came to Caroline, who tested his restraint like no other woman had ever come close to doing. So he steeled his breath and waited for her to exit, reminding himself to stay in control. That control was tested the moment Caroline stepped out of the bathroom in nothing but his tee shirt.

She stood there for a moment and waited, wringing her hands together in front of her.

"I don't bite." Klaus said with a slow grin, gesturing toward the spot beside him on the bed.

That familiar grin had Caroline relaxing in an instant and she returned the smile before bouncing over to the bed and sitting beside him.

"I believe the lady asked for an old fashioned cuddle." Klaus said, kicking off his shoes and shifting to lie down on the bed. Even the word 'cuddle' sounded foreign falling from his lips but Klaus knew it was just the first step into uncharted waters he'd be taking with Caroline. And the odd part was, it didn't scare him nearly as much as he had expected it to.

"Yes, the lady did." Caroline replied, crawling up the bed to lie beside Klaus, nuzzling into his side.

Klaus wrapped one arm around Caroline's shoulders as she used his chest for a pillow and threw one leg over his. He ran his finger lightly up and down her forearm as he spoke. "Do you want to tell me exactly what happened?"

"There isn't much to tell." Caroline mumbled into his chest, curling her fingers around his shirt. She didn't want to talk about Tyler. "Sorry, I dropped in on you like this. You look like you were on your way out."

"Nowhere important." Klaus said nonchalantly, his fingers still tracing that idle pattern up and down her arm.

"Still," She replied, "I should have called first instead of just surprising you like this."

With the arm that wasn't wrapped around her, Klaus lifted his hand to cup Caroline's chin, tilting her face back enough for her to look up at him. "Don't ever apologize for coming to me, love. I'd be upset if you hadn't." He said sternly, eyes locked on hers so she could gauge just how serious he was.

"And while I'm at it, sorry for how screwed up all of this has been."

Klaus growled beneath his breath. "Stop apologizing to me Caroline. You handled the situation exactly the way I would have expected you to – with all the grace and virtue that I enjoy about you. If anything, I should be the one apologizing for my impatience." He paused and pretended to think. "Though, I won't apologize for that because it led to you being here in my arms right now so it was more than worth it."

Caroline smiled up at him, the bright beam causing Klaus' chest to expand in an unfamiliar way. If every smile from her kept having this effect, he'd find himself suffering from a heart attack at a young age.

Laughing against his chest, Caroline mumbled, "We're a mess."

Klaus didn't bother to correct her because she'd called them a 'we' and that alone was enough to fill him with a thrilling sense of satisfaction.

Caroline yawned into his chest before finally letting her eyes drift closed. It was barely 9 o'clock but she was exhausted from the day's events – hell she was drained from the last two weeks entirely. Caroline hadn't realized the toll her relationship with Tyler was taking on her until she was free from it. And with that satisfying sense of relief, Caroline drifted off into a deep sleep.

Klaus laid there for hours watching Caroline sleep. He'd never had the opportunity to simply admire her before and Klaus jumped on that chance now. He took in the way her silky blonde curls fanned out across his chest, small wisps getting caught between her lips as she breathed in and out. He stared at her slightly parted lips - lush and full, made for a man to kiss. Plump and inviting. Her demure little nose would wriggle every once in awhile, like she had to sneeze in her sleep. Klaus even found himself captivated by the rise and fall of her chest, placing a hand over her heart to feel it thumping lightly. Her heart beat sixty-three times a minute and she breathed fifteen times in a minute. Only, every three minutes her breathing would stutter a little and for that minute she'd breathe twelve instead.

Even in the perfectly silent room with Caroline lying beside him, Klaus couldn't sleep. Despite the soothing effect watching her sleep had on him, Klaus couldn't shake the rage he felt at Tyler. He'd likely never get the full story out of Caroline but the little she'd told him was more than enough to set his blood boiling. Glancing over at the bedside clock, Klaus realized it was a little after midnight. If he didn't do something to take his mind off of killing Tyler, he'd likely get no sleep tonight. It was only midday in Tokyo. The beauty of the stock market was that it never slept. Somewhere in the world – money was always changing hands.

Sliding out of the bed with incredible caution so as not to wake Caroline, Klaus left the bedroom and jogged down the stairs to his office. He slid into his chair, immediately powering up his computer and hitting a button on a remote that had all the mounted screens turning on and flashing numbers at him. It wasn't long before Klaus was lost in his element. This is what he did – it was what he was good at. Over time as his firm grew, becoming one of the biggest hedge funds in the city, Klaus didn't get back to the basics as often as he would have liked. He let the highly paid, brilliant minds he hired handle the stock market while he ran the firm but watching those numbers and graphs dance across the screen, playing the stock exchange – this was his comfort zone.

Eyes flitting from screen to screen, Klaus worked at a steady, calm rhythm. He was using his personal funds (rather than the billions of dollars his firm handled for various companies) so he felt no need to hold back. The rush was all in the risk and if he lost – well he'd earn it back eventually. Himax Technologies Inc. was up, Medipal Holdings Corp. was down. Intu Properties PLC was having a bad few days but Klaus' instinct was telling him they were due for an upwards swing and his instincts were never wrong so he invested a substantial amount of money there as well. While he was working the European market, Klaus peeked in quickly on Mikaelson Global Corp. The numbers were holding surprisingly strong considering the public scandal Mikael had rained down on the company. Though Klaus figured he should have never underestimated his brother. Elijah would move hell and high water to ensure that the company didn't lose a single key investor. Clearly the faith the investors had in Elijah's abilities outweighed any misgivings they had about Mikael's former dubious business practices.

* * *

Caroline's eyes shot open and she was disoriented for a few moments before she realized where she was. In Klaus' bed. Wearing Klaus' shirt. With no sign of Klaus anywhere. She glanced quickly at the clock and saw that it was almost 1:30 AM. Furrowing her eyebrows, Caroline sat up in the bed and looked around the room. When she realized he wasn't coming out of the adjoining bathroom, Caroline climbed out of the bed and went in search of Klaus.

She found him in the first place she checked, his office. Klaus was so entranced by what he was doing that he didn't seem to notice Caroline leaning in the doorway. She stood there for a moment, watching him work with a smile on her face. Caroline debated slipping back up to the bedroom and letting him work in peace or interrupting him. She'd been about to turn around and leave when she decided if she let him keep working now, he'd likely spend the entire night awake.

"You left the bed."

Klaus tore his gaze away from his computer and looked up at Caroline, a grin immediately taking over his face. "Couldn't sleep." He said, pushing his chair back from the desk and beckoning to Caroline.

She was on him in a flash, dancing around the desk and straddling Klaus' lap. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist and for the umpteenth time that night, Klaus was struck by how lucky he was. He'd waited so long to have Caroline in his arms, she'd be lucky if he ever let her go. Klaus had every intention of holding her and touching her and kissing her until he was completely satisfied – and he was pretty sure that was a long way off.

Klaus gently cupped her face in his palm and Caroline leaned forward until her forehead rested against his and their breaths mingled nicely. Freeing her chin from his hold, Klaus scooped one big hand against the back of her head while his other arm banded like steel around her back, pressing her closer to him. His eyes darted along her face for a brief moment before finally giving in to what they had both needed since that night two weeks ago -he kissed her. His kiss was as devastating as Caroline remembered it being. If you could even call this kissing – it was so much more than that. Klaus feasted on her lips like he was making love to her mouth with his own and she had never felt anything quite this amazing. He consumed her —tongue, teeth and lips working expertly against her mouth. The effect was enough to make her head spin. As Caroline let out a soft moan, his tongue filled her mouth while his hand shifted the angle of her head so he could get in even further. His tongue thrust in and out as Caroline started to tremble and quake. Klaus' arms around her - one locked around her waist while the other reached up her back so his hand could cup the back of her head - grew tighter and tighter as the kiss went on, and his groans rose to match hers. Within minutes, their hips were mimicking the motions of their mouths, Caroline all but riding Klaus in the chair.

Klaus struggled to remind himself of his earlier commitment. He reminded himself to stay in control – to not rush things with Caroline. He reminded himself that she'd just gotten out of a relationship less than 24 hours ago. But none of that did anything to stop his dick from hardening in his pants. Pulling away from her lips and loosening his hold on her, Klaus tried to slow down.

Caroline felt his hands glide up to her shoulders and shivered as he squeezed them and moved those strong, assured fingers up her neck and into her hair. He brushed her curls to the side, and she felt his warm breath a second before his hot mouth bit gently into the delicate skin where her shoulder and neck met. Klaus swirled his tongue as he sucked hard enough to leave a mark, which she didn't doubt was his intent, and Caroline couldn't hold back a moan or the shivers that were taking over her body.

"We should slow down." Klaus murmured even though he couldn't bring himself to pull his lips away from her soft skin.

Caroline shook her head vehemently. "I don't want to slow down." Her voice came out almost breathless as her hips resumed their rocking motion, grinding against Klaus' stiff length.

He growled, burning lust clouding his vision as Caroline rubbed herself against him like a cat in heat.

"Sweetheart, we don't have to do this now." Klaus managed to say, his lips still racing all along her neck. "We can wait." He left out the part about how waiting would literally cause him to erupt in unfulfilled desire.

Caroline dug her fingers into his hair and pulled his head back from her neck to look down at him. "I don't want to wait." She stared into his eyes and saw the moment when Klaus forfeited control.

In a flash, his lips were on hers again – devouring her. He brought both his hands to the sides of her face, cupping her chin for a moment, then slid them slowly down, over her neck and shoulders and finally to her heaving breasts. Both hands squeezed the full mounds through the t-shirt she wore and Caroline groaned in ecstasy around his kiss. Her hands started clutching and clawing at his shirt trying to get under it to feel his bare skin. Klaus pulled his mouth away from hers long enough to yank the shirt she wore over her head, baring her luscious breasts to him before attacking her mouth with his again. Feeling feisty now, Caroline nipped and sucked at his lips. With an animalistic growl, Klaus tore his mouth from hers and immediately latched onto her nipple with ravenous lips while her other breast was engulfed in the delicious heat of his palm and fingers. He fed at her breasts almost wildly, alternating from one to the other, sucking, biting, lapping and squeezing while Caroline shamelessly moaned and thrashed in his lap.

It wasn't enough. He needed more. Klaus let go of her breasts to wrap his arms around her again before quickly standing. Caroline's legs wrapped around him, her ankles locking behind his back. With the shirt he'd loaned her gone, her naked body was pressed flush against his and it was all Klaus could do to keep from laying her flat on the desk and fucking her right there.

_Tomorrow. He'd fuck her on the desk tomorrow._

Klaus swore Caroline enjoyed toying with him as he raced up the stairs with her in his arms. Her fingers tightened in his hair while her lips roamed his neck and face, her little tongue darting out to lick at his skin. By the time he made it to the bedroom, Klaus was practically vibrating with need. He tossed Caroline onto the bed before quickly yanking off his shirt and tugging down his jeans. Seconds had barely passed before he landed on top of Caroline, his eyes rolling to the back of his head at just the feel of all that exquisite bare skin pressed flush against his.

His lips latched onto the skin at her collarbone, Caroline's fingers sinking back into his hair as her neck arched and she looked up at the ceiling. With teasing nips and sucks, Klaus worked his way back to her full breasts. His mouth latched onto one of the taut points, rolling it around between his teeth in a way that sent sparks shooting down Caroline's spine. With his mouth still working over her heaving breasts, Klaus smoothed his hands gradually up her thighs to the wet heat between them. His teeth pinched hard on a nipple at the exact moment he plunged two fingers deep inside her wet sheath and something dark and primitive blazed inside him when she cried out and came right then. Nothing in this world would compare to watching Caroline come undone in his arms.

Her heat pulsed and clenched around his fingers as he continued to thrust into her. Klaus inched his way down her body, his fingers still skirting over her soaking flesh as his mouth trailed kisses down her torso. When he reached the apex between her thighs, Klaus inhaled a deep breath and let out a long growl before pressing his mouth against her core – his teeth and tongue nipping and lapping at her with unrestrained hunger. Caroline's scent and taste was a smoky, honeyed tang with a heady mix of the fruity body wash she used—an unbelievably intoxicating brew that made it hard for him to resist biting too deep and hurting her. Giving himself over to months' worth of desperation and need, Klaus ate at Caroline like a man enjoying his last meal. His mouth tugged and licked and sucked at her swollen clit while he added a twist to the fingers he was thrusting into her. He felt another orgasm building in her. "That's it, love," he growled against her slick folds. "Beautiful." Her knees buckled, her hips jolting against him as she flew apart again, and Klaus thought he was likely to lose his fucking mind.

Caroline's body was still rocked by the occasional tremor as Klaus kissed his way back up her body. When his lips brushed the underside of her breasts, Klaus rolled off of Caroline and stuck a hand out to reach into the bedside table. Before he could unwrap the condom in his hand, Caroline snatched it away from him. When her hands lowered to slide it on his thick length, Klaus let out a low growl. Loving the heavy weight of him in her hands, Caroline squeezed once before stroking up and down his shaft. Klaus mindlessly thrust into her hands, his mind hazy with unbearable need.

With a final groan, Klaus tugged Caroline's hands away and pinned them above her head on the pillow. Next time they'd go slow and do all the things he'd fantasized about doing with Caroline but right now Klaus needed to get inside of her before he exploded.

With one fluid motion, Klaus plunged inside Caroline and the sounds of their mingled groans reverberated around the room. Klaus had been with a lot of women, that was no secret, but in that moment he couldn't remember what it had been like to be with anyone else. Everything with Caroline felt new and overwhelming. Feeling her core clench like a vise around his throbbing cock erased every thought from Klaus' mind until the only thing echoing in his head was 'MORE' - the burning need for more.

Caroline seized this moment of weakness to flip the two over so she was astride Klaus, his cock still buried in her. She rocked her hips back and forth, gripping as hard as she could with her inner muscles, working to bring his stiff length as deep as she could. Caroline reveled in the moment – loving that she finally had him like this after months of tormenting cravings. Her nails raked down his chest and her head fell back on a moan, a million nerve endings zinging throughout her body.

Klaus added his strength to her thrusts, gripping her hips in his hands and plunging her back down onto him every time she lifted up. His abdomen muscles flexed like iron, holding back his imminent climax by the teeth as it fought to burst through and devour him – set him on fire. Caroline looked like a pagan goddess surging above him. Her hair was a silky, curly mass that danced around her face as she rode him. Her perfectly rounded breasts swayed and bounced on her lean frame as Caroline rocked herself up and down on him. The tightly budded tips beckoned and he sat up to catch one between his teeth.

Having let Caroline have her fun, and knowing he couldn't hold out much longer, Klaus flipped them over again in one swift movement, not breaking the rhythmic thrusts. Gripping one thigh in his hand, Klaus lifted Caroline's leg and placed it on his shoulder, his hand wrapping around her ankle before increasing his speed, pounding into her. His thrusts were so hard they shook the whole bed, banging out a furious tempo on the wall. Caroline might have lost her position on top but that didn't stop her hips from lunging for Klaus, trying to meet his ferocious thrusts. Each time he thrust, she cried out. Her voice bounced around the room, guttural and raw - not the practiced sounds of a woman who was trying to provoke her lover (something Klaus had encountered often), but the real sounds of a woman about to lose her mind in an orgasm. That sound alone pushed Klaus closer to the edge. He thrusted again and again, never slowing down. He lifted Caroline's other leg to wrap it around his waist, this new angle causing his cock to nestle even further inside her, burying himself to the hilt with each thrust.

Klaus locked his eyes on hers and growled as Caroline grew closer to her peak. It was like watching a volcano just before it erupted. Her body heaved, a groan erupted from her throat and her pussy clenched his cock as hard as a fist. There was no chance of him coming without her. Klaus' body tensed over hers, his muscles rippling. Her orgasm flooded over him like lava and brought a rough growl to his own throat as it swamped him, setting every nerve ending on fire. Frantic with impending release, his body started bucking and thrusting wildly into her. Caroline clenched, then spasmed around his cock, pulsing stronger than anything he'd ever felt before. The heady sensation was the last Klaus could stand, his back arched and his whole body flexed as his own orgasm came crashing over him in pulsating waves of heat.

The room was silent except for the sounds of their heavy breathing as Klaus collapsed next to Caroline who promptly snuggled into his side, her body limp from the pleasure. Klaus mustered up enough energy to pull the covers over them and, after a moment, he broke the silence, brushing his lips against her head.

"Any regrets?" He whispered the question, a small part of him afraid to hear the answer. Afraid that he'd pushed her too soon – that Tyler wasn't out of their way yet.

"Not a one." Caroline murmured, rubbing her face against his chest as she closed her eyes and got comfortable. "And don't leave the bed again." She mumbled that last bit as she drifted off to sleep.

"Wouldn't dream of it, love," was the last thing Caroline heard before she passed out.

* * *

Ironically, when she woke up the next morning Klaus wasn't in the bed with her. Like when she'd woken up in the middle of the night before, it took Caroline a moment to take in her surroundings. She lay there for a moment, relishing the way her entire body felt loose and relaxed. Caroline was sure that had 90% to do with Klaus and 10% to do with this amazing bed that felt like it was swallowing her up whole. She'd finally mustered the energy to sit up when she caught sight of the slip of paper perched on the pillow beside her. Picking it up and flipping it open, she quickly scanned Klaus' perfect penmanship.

_Morning, love. You're positively radiant in your sleep and I didn't want to wake you. I had to run into the office for a few meetings but I'll be back by noon. Stay in bed and wait for me._

Caroline slapped the note down on the bed as her head snapped to the side to read the clock. Realizing it was already after 9, she let out a frustrated growl as she leapt out of the bed. Caroline had never missed a day of work since becoming Klaus' assistant, never even been late, and she certainly wasn't going to start now. Though it was too late to do anything about the being late part. As she took a quick shower, Caroline realized she had nothing to wear.

"Damn it." She said to no one in particular as she climbed out of the shower.

There was no way she'd have the time to go home to Brooklyn and then come back into Manhattan. Dressing in her clothes from yesterday, Caroline mentally ran through all the nearest clothing stores. Thirty minutes later, after a quick trip to a boutique around the corner, Caroline had a new blouse and undergarments – trying to ignore the fact that she'd paid a lot more than she normally would have for the ensemble and making a mental note to never shop in Klaus' expensive neighborhood again. Barking at the cab driver to keep his eyes on the road, Caroline did her best to maneuver her way into the new blouse and panties in the limited space of the backseat. By the time she stumbled out of the cab and into the lobby, it was almost noon.

* * *

Klaus stood behind his desk and hung up the phone before motioning for the stern looking woman standing on the other side of his door to come in. Marjorie had been with his company since the startup days and Klaus had not once seen her crack a smile. Which was fine – he didn't need humor from his legal counsel.

"I need you to draw up a severance package for Tyler Lockwood." He cut right to the point as Marjorie came to stand in front of his desk.

"Reason for termination?" She asked in that calm, steady voice.

Klaus waved his hand as if this were a trivial detail. "I don't want him around."

Marjorie arched one perfectly plucked eyebrow and that was the height of the reaction he would get out of her. "As an executive with the company, Lockwood's contract won't allow for us to simply dismiss him."

"This is simple Marjorie." Klaus replied with clear impatience. "I hired him. I can fire him."

"According to all executive contracts, termination of employment can only occur given substantial reason."

"Draw up the severance package." Klaus said, his voice dropping to an intimidating level.

Again, the older woman was unphased. "You realize if you fire Tyler Lockwood without grounds, he can sue the company."

Klaus merely shrugged. "Let him try. We'll see whose pockets run deeper."

When all was said and done, if Tyler wanted to sue the firm he could certainly try. But Klaus paid a hefty fee to keep one of Manhattan's most prominent law firms on retainer and he'd have no problem throwing money at them to keep the case open for however long it took Tyler to run out of funds. Klaus didn't care if he was wrapped up in court for years – he was going to fire Tyler. And the boy would still be getting off easy compared to what Klaus wanted to do to him.

"So a severance package for Tyler Lockwood. Is that all?" Marjorie asked.

Before Klaus could respond, a voice sounded from the doorway.

"You can't fire Tyler."

Caroline clamped her mouth shut the second the words were out. She hadn't meant to undermine Klaus in front of whoever this woman was but she couldn't let him fire Tyler.

"Marjorie you can go." Klaus said without taking his eyes off of Caroline.

The woman spun on her heel and strode out of the room as Caroline walked further in. Klaus had a slight frown on his face and she assumed it was because of her outburst but he quickly stripped her of that disillusion.

"You're out of bed."

If he was being honest, Klaus was a little disappointed to see Caroline standing there. He'd hoped he could be in and out in a flash and get back into bed with her before she'd even realized he was gone. Wishful thinking.

"Of course I'm out of bed. Because I have a job to do. One you should have woken me up for by the way."

Before Klaus could cut in, Caroline continued on. "And speaking of jobs – you can't fire Tyler."

"So I've heard." He said, walking around his desk to come to a stop in front of Caroline.

"I'm serious." She shot back, crossing her arms over her chest.

Klaus sighed. "Sweetheart you can't expect me to pass him in the halls and not pummel him to the ground."

"I have faith in your self-control." Caroline replied dryly.

"How can you still be so protective of him?" Klaus asked, his light and happy mood quickly dissipating.

"He just lost both his parents, he can't lose his job too." She said softly. "Promise me you won't fire him."

Klaus eyed her, inching closer as Caroline stood her ground. "I promise not to make any rash decisions."

Realizing that was the best she was going to get out of him, Caroline dropped the subject.

"Now onto more pleasant matters." Klaus said, smirking again.

He reached to pull Caroline closer but she danced out of his reach, a small smile on her face. Klaus stepped forward and she stepped back, twining her fingers behind her back and smirking at him. He paused once before lunging forward and pulling Caroline flush against him. She laughed, ducking to avoid his lips.

"Anyone could walk in." Caroline said, spinning out of his arms again.

"And…" Klaus asked.

"And they'd see us. People would know." She gestured between them.

Klaus furrowed his eyebrows in discontent. "Caroline, you aren't some dirty little secret and I won't treat you like one."

"I know that." She replied, her playfulness falling away long enough for her to address what was actually a serious issue. "But this is new territory for me – dating the boss. People find out and it won't tarnish your reputation any but suddenly I'm the slutty assistant sleeping with the boss. I'd become a walking cliché. Can you blame me for wanting to keep it low-key for a while?" Caroline left out the part about how plenty of people around the office already knew she'd been dating Tyler. Jumping from one man to the next in less than 24 hours, especially when the first was a grieving orphan, would make for scintillating office gossip that would haunt Caroline for months. She could have explained this to Klaus but she figured he'd heard Tyler's name more than enough for one morning.

Klaus held back a growl of frustration. Of course luck would have it that he finally finds the one woman he wants to be with, wants to proclaim it from the rooftops so everybody knows she's completely and undeniably his, and she would want to keep it all a secret. Before the seed of frustration could get him down, Klaus reminded himself that he had Caroline and that's all that mattered. She was finally his, even if he couldn't tell the world yet.

Klaus stepped closer to her again until their faces were mere inches apart, his smirk back in place. "You know, my grandmother used to say tell the truth and shame the devil."

"Somehow I don't imagine that's a rule you followed often." Caroline shot back, her heart speeding up and shivers racing down her spine at his close proximity.

"You'd be right. I'm not really one for rules." Klaus' lips tipped up in that small half smile and it was all Caroline could do to keep from fanning herself.

She cleared her throat, finally breaking and taking a step back. In a standoff between her and Klaus, Caroline would lose every time and she'd find herself spread out on that desk, his for the taking, if she didn't put some space between them now.

"Well, I have work to do." She said sternly.

Klaus just grinned, knowing the exact effect he had on her. She spun on her heel and strode towards the door but before she could leave Klaus' voice sounded behind her.

"And, Caroline -"

She looked over her shoulder at him.

"I'll play along for the workday but after six," His eyes looked her up and down in a way that made Caroline feel naked, "you're all mine."

Caroline darted out of the room, her nerve endings already tingling in anticipation. As she settled into her desk, Caroline took a moment to check her phone for the first time that morning. The first thing that appeared was a text from Tyler. She subconsciously sucked in a breath before reading it.

_I'm sorry about last night. Can we talk?_

It was a problem she would have to face eventually but for now, Caroline tossed the phone down and pretended the text didn't exist. Ignorance was bliss. She'd barely been at her desk for ten minutes when Jenna appeared, leaning forward and splaying her fingers on the desk. The older woman didn't say anything – just stood there with her hands braced on Caroline's desk and shooting that knowing grin down at her.

The two engaged in an old fashioned stare off before Caroline finally broke and asked, "Can I help you, Jenna?" Her tone was playfully mocking.

The other blonde just shook her head, that wide grin still in place, before finally saying. "I knew it."

Slapping on her poker face, Caroline tried to play it cool. "Knew what exactly?"

"Sure, play coy with me." Jenna said, rolling her eyes. "But I have worked with that man for years and he has not once stridden into this office the way he did this morning."

"And how exactly did he stride in here this morning?" Caroline asked, partially teasing and partially genuinely curious.

"Like a man who had it all." Jenna said, standing up straight and shrugging.

Caroline just let out a light laugh. "Klaus 'had it all' long before today."

Jenna cocked her head as she slowly backed away from Caroline's desk. "He didn't have you."

* * *

**So I get the smut might not be everybody's cup of tea and I tried to tone it down from how I usually write for Some Nights/ my drabbles. But like I said, it usually has a pretty clear lead up so you can easily skip right over it if that's not your thing. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Oh boy, it's been awhile. My mistake. Anyhow - here it is. **

* * *

Fidgeting in her chair, Caroline tried not to count down the minutes 'til the end of the workday. She could practically feel Klaus' stare boring into her back and the thought of those lust clouded, iridescent eyes on her was enough to send a shiver racing down Caroline's back. She was still grinning at her computer screen as she typed out emails when Caroline felt his presence behind her. Her fingers paused on the keyboard but she didn't turn around, instead waiting with her breath held.

"Ready, love?" Klaus braced both hands on the back of her chair and bent forward as he spoke, close enough that his breath danced across her cheek.

Caroline sucked in a slight breath as her body tensed in anticipation. Ready for what exactly? Last night had been incredible but they still had a lot of talking to do. Not that she got the impression 'talk' was what Klaus wanted to do right now. And if Caroline was being perfectly honest with herself, talking wasn't exactly the only thing on her mind either.

She finally turned her head to the side to face Klaus, his blues darker than usual and his lips curled into that salacious half-smirk. Before Caroline could say anything, the phone at her desk rang and her hand instinctively shot out to answer it.

"Niklaus Mikaelson's office, this is Caroline speaking, how may I help you?" Caroline kept her eyes locked on Klaus' as she spoke.

As Caroline talked, Klaus ripped his gaze away from her eyes to trail down to her lips - full and pink and oh so inviting. In fact, all of Caroline was a constant temptation. Having her last night hadn't diminished Klaus' overwhelming hunger for Caroline. If anything, it had only amplified it. His concentration had been shot to hell, knowing Caroline was just within reach and his for the taking. And judging by the way she shuddered and caught her breath when he came close, Klaus was sure he wasn't the only one feeling this way.

"Hold one moment please."

Klaus' eyes snapped back up as Caroline shifted to hit a button on the phone.

"It's the CEO of Blackstone Group." She said, placing the receiver back down.

"Patch him through to Alaric." Klaus replied quickly. He was more than ready to be done with the day.

Caroline just shook her head. "His assistant was pretty adamant about him wanting to talk to you."

Klaus rolled his eyes before standing up straight again, gesturing for Caroline to patch him through to the line in his office. Nodding once, she watched him retreat back into his office before turning back to the phone and transferring the call. While Klaus took the call, Caroline began to pack up her things. She was ready to go by the time Klaus strolled out of his office again, this time with a slight frown on his face.

"Change of plans, sweetheart. I've got a business dinner." Klaus said as he came closer to Caroline. Bennett DeLuca headed up one of the major venture capitalists firms in the city and it wasn't a bridge Klaus had any interest in burning. If the man wanted to have dinner to discuss lucrative mergers and acquisitions, Klaus couldn't very well turn him down – even though he had been looking forward to spending the evening with Caroline.

"Oh, okay." Caroline said, swallowing back the hint of disappointment. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

She threw him a small smile before heading down the hallway. Caroline had barely made it a few feet away when she felt Klaus' hand wrap around her wrist. Before she knew what was happening, he was tugging her into one of the small conference rooms – the same one he'd pulled her into a few days ago. Caroline didn't have a chance to speak before he was pressing her back against the door and his lips came crashing down on hers.

The kiss was both the perfect kind of soft and the perfect kind of hard as Klaus buried his fingers in her hair, tilting her head back and feasting on her lips. He groaned a little when Caroline opened her mouth to let him in and the vibration set her on fire. She moaned, wrapping her arms around his neck and sliding her fingers through his soft hair. His mouth devoured hers; his tongue wreaked havoc on her mind and body – almost enough to make her forget where they were.

"Someone might come in." She muttered between frantic kisses.

"I don't care." He mumbled back, trailing kisses across her jaw and down her neck before returning to her lips.

They both groaned, the kiss deepening as he ate at her mouth hungrily. His palms moved down to her hips, grinding her against him in a rhythm that nearly sent her over the edge. Just as Caroline was about to run out of breath, his lips broke away from hers to blaze a hot trail down the side of her neck. She felt weak and a tad dizzy as his teeth scraped across the sensitive flesh behind her ear. His palm slid upward to cup her breast, squeezing it through the material of her shirt and it was then that Caroline registered that they had long since passed work place protocol.

"Okay, okay." Caroline said breathlessly, somehow summoning the strength to push him away.

Klaus' lips, bruised from their kisses, curled into that knowing smirk as he drank in the dazed look in her eyes. It was almost enough to have him cancelling that dinner after all. But before he could, Caroline stood up straight, smoothing out her clothes.

"You are going to be late." She said, pointing at him as she slid seamlessly back into her P.A. role.

"Goodnight Caroline." Klaus said, still smirking, as he pecked her one last time on the lips before holding the door open for her.

Caroline threw him a grin over her shoulder as she turned to head down the hall. As she exited the building, Caroline realized she was actually glad Klaus had been called off to dinner last minute. It gave her the chance to go home and catch up with Elena. A lot had changed in the last 24 hours.

* * *

Caroline spent the majority of the cab ride thinking about Klaus and whatever it is they had together. There were plenty of reasons for her to be wary – his reputation, her job. But all Caroline could feel was a tingling sense of anticipation. One that had been building for a long time. Climbing out of the cab, Caroline heard her phone let out a shrill ring from in her bag. Pulling it out, she glanced once at Tyler's name on the screen and sighed before throwing it back into her purse. Avoidance might not be the best way to handle this but Caroline figured she was allowed at least a few hours of blissful happiness before having to face the Tyler situation.

By the time she made it up to her apartment, Caroline had shoved any Tyler-related thoughts to the back of her mind. With a smile on her face, she bounced into Elena's room flinging herself down onto the bed beside her.

"Nice of you to come home." Her friend said, setting aside the pad she'd been sketching designs on. "I imagine you must have had a pretty wild night since you didn't text or call to let me know you weren't lying in a ditch somewhere." Elena said with a teasing smile.

"You have no idea." Caroline sighed up at the ceiling.

Elena watched her friend with a growing smile. It was the happiest she had seen Caroline in weeks. "Well when you left yesterday morning you weren't anywhere near this happy so why don't you enlighten me." She said, crossing her legs beneath her and staring down at Caroline.

"Well, I broke up with Tyler." Caroline said, the smile briefly falling from her face when she thought about the mess their relationship had disintegrated into.

"Good for you." Elena said, patting Caroline's shoulder as the other girl sat up to lean back against the headboard.

The two were silent for a brief moment before Elena said, "And…"

"And," Caroline turned her head to grin at her friend. "I slept with Klaus."

"Woah, you work fast." Elena said with another teasing grin.

"Elena!" Caroline playfully shoved her friend.

"What, I'm kidding." Elena laughed. "Tell me what happened."

Still filled with bliss, Caroline regaled Elena with everything that had happened the night before. From her showing up at Klaus' place, to him comforting her to them doing a lot more than just comforting. The entire time Elena watched with an equally wide grin. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Caroline so giddy over a guy. This was Elena's favorite part of any relationship – when things were still so new and exciting. Kinda like things with Stefan. Before her mind could run away with that thought, Elena tuned back into what Caroline was saying.

"So where do you go from here?" Elena asked.

"I don't know." Caroline said with another happy, breathless sigh.

"Well was he any good?" Elena asked, though the answer was already pretty obvious.

"It was," Caroline sucked in a breath, swiveling around and lying back down on the bed, throwing her arms up behind her. "It was…" she trailed off again, unable to find the words.

Elena just smirked. "I see."

Before Caroline could respond, the sound of her phone ringing drifted up from her bag again. Rolling her eyes, the smile fell from her face as she pulled her phone out expecting to see Tyler's name flashing across the screen again. When she saw who it actually was, her grin came back even wider this time.

"That's him isn't it?" Elena said with a cheeky grin.

Caroline didn't respond, instead bouncing off the bed with a laugh and walking toward the door.

"I still want details." She heard Elena call out behind her as she all but skipped over to her room.

Shutting the door behind her, Caroline answered the phone.

"Miss me already?"

"Always." Klaus' smooth voice drifted through the line.

She could practically feel his smirk through the phone. "Shouldn't you be out to dinner." Caroline glanced down at her watch.

"I'm about to head into the restaurant now. I just wanted to make sure you made it home okay."

"All in one piece." Caroline replied. "Anything else?"

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line before Klaus spoke again. "There was one other thing. What are your plans for tomorrow night?"

A few seconds passed before Caroline said, "are you asking me out?"

"I believe I am."

Caroline let out a small laugh. It was almost comical. After everything that had happened, Klaus was taking the time to actually ask her out on a traditional date.

"Caroline, love, your plans for tomorrow night?" Klaus asked again.

"Well I have this boss, he's kind of a hard ass." She said, teasingly.

Klaus let out a brief laugh before replying. "I'm sure you can sweet talk your way into one night off."

"I'll see what I can do. Why, what are you suggesting?"

"You'll see." Klaus said, the pleased smirk evident in his voice.

"Well how will I know what to wear?" Caroline asked, her mind already racing to guess what he had planned.

"Bring a comfortable change of clothes."

Before she could get any more out of him, Klaus was saying goodnight - the promise of what would come tomorrow setting Caroline's pulse racing.

* * *

The next morning, Caroline threw a pair of jeans and a simple, flowy blouse into a duffel bag alongside a pair of flats. She'd spent all night making random guesses at where Klaus would take her but had come up blank. The one thing she did know was that (given the requested attire) it wouldn't be some five-star restaurant – a nice change from the regular dinner dates Tyler had always taken her on.

Dressed in a gray pencil skirt and a white, silk blouse Caroline snatched up her purse, the duffel bag and her keys before heading out the door, leaving a note for Elena not to expect her back until the next morning. She wasn't sure what Klaus' plans were but Caroline was pretty sure the night would end back at his place.

Klaus was tied up in meetings across town for most of the day so Caroline made good use of the time (her focus a lot better when he wasn't in the vicinity). She worked her way through various emails, dealt with a backlog of files and returned phone calls – all the while swallowing back the growing sense of anticipation about their date tonight. In an attempt to keep her mind off of Klaus, Caroline powered through all her work and by 3:00 she was left with nothing to do. Just as she was heading toward Jenna's desk, Caroline spotted Klaus striding down the hall. She paused where she stood, taking in his delectable suit-clad form as he approached.

Nodding once at Jenna, Klaus moved past her desk and over to his office, pulling Caroline in behind him.

"Are you ready to go, sweetheart?" He asked, shutting the door behind them.

"That depends, where are we going?" She asked, unable to stop the grin that crept onto her face.

Klaus just smirked. "You'll see."

Before Caroline could speak again, the door flung open behind them. She looked over her shoulder to see Alaric walk into the room.

"Caroline, can we have a moment?" He said, looking from Klaus to Caroline and back again with a frantic look on his face.

"Actually, we were just heading out." Klaus interrupted before Alaric could continue.

"This is kind of important."

Klaus barely refrained from rolling his eyes. "Don't I pay you to handle important things?"

"I'll give you guys a minute." Caroline said, looking between the two men before striding out of the office.

The door had barely shut behind her when Alaric spoke again. "The S.E.C. called. We're being audited."

Klaus froze for a moment before perching back against his desk, his legs crossed in front of him. When he didn't say anything, Ric continued.

"I poked around through some of my contacts. They're looking into the Salvatores and the Knight Advertising Agency deal. Obviously, our name came up. The audit can start any day now."

Klaus remained silent, his mind racing a mile a minute. In his head, he took apart the Salvatore- Knight deal and pieced it back together again, looking for anything that would land his firm in hot water. He had no idea what the Salvatore brothers were getting up with the company they had acquired but from his vantage point, from the firm's vantage point, it looked like a clean acquisition. Anything beyond that would be a problem for the Salvatore's to handle. Except, the S.E.C. thought there was something to be gained by looking into his firm.

"You're not reacting. I feel like you should be reacting."

Snapping back into the present, Klaus stood up straight. "Is that all?"

Ric's eyes widened in slight surprise. "Is that all? Yes, yes the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into our firm. That's all."

"If it's a smoking gun to nail the Salvatores to the wall that they're looking for then by all means, let them do their jobs. They won't find anything because there's nothing to find."

"Maybe not on the Salvatore deal but we're talking about a full company audit here." Alaric said, his voice slightly more frantic now. "We have more than 300 employees and more than 1,000 open accounts. All it takes is one incident that we missed. Stock inflation. Insider trading. This isn't 2006 anymore. We are living in a post- economic crisis world. One incident and they will crucify us!"

"We'll be fine." Klaus said calmly, glancing down at his watch.

Alaric raised his eyebrows, still amazed by Klaus' composed attitude. Nobody wanted to hear that their company was being audited. Nobody. "How can you be so calm about this?"

"Because we have exactly 352 employees and 1,306 open accounts and if there were any 'incidents' I would know." Klaus wasn't one of those CEOs who spent their days golfing. He took his business very seriously and he was nothing if not attentive. "Now if you'll excuse me."

Klaus strode out of his office, coming to a stop by Caroline's desk. Behind him, Alaric sauntered off back to his office.

"Shall we, love?" Klaus asked, holding a hand out to Caroline.

She moved to stand from her desk but changed her mind. "You should go first." Caroline said, grinning up at him.

Klaus just arched an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

"So people don't see us leave together."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Caroline, we've left this office together hundreds of times."

"Well, it's different now."

"But only we know that." Klaus said with narrowed eyes.

"Humor me." She smiled up at him and Klaus caved, giving her one last look before taking off down the hallway.

Caroline waited until he was out of sight before standing and grabbing her things. She waved a quick goodbye to Jenna who just threw her a knowing look before striding over to the elevators. On the way down to the parking garage, Caroline thought this was kind of fun. Sneaking around to hide their clandestine office affair. It was like something out of a movie. The elevator dinged open and Caroline immediately spotted Klaus' sleek black towncar. The backseat door swung open and she climbed in, sliding along the leather seat until she was all but pressed against Klaus.

"Home, James." Klaus said before rolling up the privacy screen between the front and back seats.

"All the secrecy and you're just taking me to your house?" Caroline said with a cheeky grin.

Klaus pulled her closer for a quick kiss before responding. "No you little minx, I'm taking you home because I need to change. As do you." He said, his eyes looking her up and down.

"Where are we going?" Caroline asked, tearing her eyes away from his lips.

Klaus didn't respond. Instead he lowered his head to brush his lips lightly down her neck and across her collarbone.

"If you're trying to distract me, it won't work." Caroline said, even as her breath caught in her throat and her breasts heaved.

Smirking against her skin, Klaus nipped at her neck, savoring the sweet taste that was 100% Caroline. The car ride continued on this way with Caroline trying to get answers out of Klaus and him trying to distract her with well-timed and perfectly placed kisses. By the time they reached his building, Caroline was almost too worked up to care where they were going. Almost.

"I can't even get a hint?" She asked as the rode the elevator up to the penthouse.

Klaus' chuckle was the only response she got. He turned to grin at her and Caroline realized it didn't matter where they were going. She was happy just to be with him.

Klaus led them up to his bedroom where they both changed. Watching Caroline strip down to her rather skimpy underwear had Klaus almost forgetting the plans he'd made in favor of exploring her delectable body in depth. He'd hardly had his fill the other night. Shaking his head to clear his wayward thoughts, Klaus quickly changed into a dark green shirt and black jeans.

Once they were back in the towncar, Caroline turned to face Klaus, remembering something from earlier.

"What was that with Alaric back at the office? He seemed pretty worried about something. Are you sure you have time for this date?"

"It's nothing." Klaus said, waving it off.

An arched eyebrow from Caroline let him know that that answer wouldn't be enough.

"We're being audited by the S.E.C."

"The S.E.C.?" Caroline asked.

"Securities and Exchange Commission. They make the rules. We follow them."

"Oh." Caroline replied. And then a moment later. "Is this bad? Because Alaric –"

"We have nothing to hide." Klaus cut her off quickly. "And I don't want to talk about work. You have a no personal during work hours rule; I have a no work during personal hours rule."

Caroline's lips curved into a wide smile. "We have rules now?"

Klaus returned her smile, knowing full well he was bluffing. He'd go about this however Caroline wanted to – she could make all the rules and Klaus knew he'd comply.

Twenty minutes later, Caroline was no closer to figuring out where they were going as the car pulled up at a downtown heliport, right beside a gleaming helicopter. Her eyes were wide as she climbed out of the car behind Klaus. Catching her wide-eyed gaze, it occurred to Klaus that he might have erred here.

"Are you afraid of flying?" He asked, his mind already racing to figure out an alternative.

"No I," Caroline looked from him to the helicopter and back again. "I've just never flown in a helicopter before."

Internally letting out a sigh of relief, Klaus took her hand as they walked. "Well there's a first time for everything."

"Is this the date? A helicopter ride over the city?!" She asked excitedly as they reached the aircraft.

"No. But I'll be more than happy to arrange that if you'd like."

Caroline shook her head. "Just making guesses."

But Klaus had already filed that bit of information away for a later date.

About an hour later, the helicopter landed at another heliport that gave Caroline no clue as to where they were going. She'd already gathered that they were somewhere in upstate NY. Her ears were still ringing a little as Klaus helped her into the passenger seat of a waiting car before climbing into the driver's seat.

"You really go all out, don't you?" Caroline asked with a smile as she stared out the window at the scenery.

"I've never had a reason to before." Klaus replied and Caroline's head whipped to the side as she turned to face him.

Klaus felt her eyes on him but didn't elaborate. It was only another ten minutes before they reached their destination.

"Cooperstown, NY." Caroline read aloud as they drove by the welcome sign. "What's in Cooperstown, NY?"

Klaus glanced at the glowing 5:13 on the dashboard. They hadn't gotten here as early as he would have liked but they'd still catch most of the festivities. Climbing out of the car, Caroline glanced around quickly as Klaus took her hand and led her down the street. The noise of a rambunctious crowd echoed down the street and as they turned the corner, Caroline realized where he had taken her.

"A county fair?!" She asked, her eyes lighting up as she took in all the commotion that stretched down a few blocks.

Klaus took in her bright eyes and wide beam and was thrilled that he hadn't spoiled the surprise for her. The look on her face in that moment gave him immense satisfaction.

"How could you possibly have come up with this?" Caroline asked, not looking at him as she tugged him further into the fray.

"You mentioned once that county fairs were one of the things you missed about Mystic Falls."

Caroline paused her walking to turn and look at him. "And you remembered that?" She had said that once in passing – months ago.

Klaus merely shrugged. "I like knowing things about you. I happen to find you fascinating Caroline Forbes."

Grinning Caroline reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his. Keeping it chaste, Caroline pulled back from him before they forgot where they were – which tended to happen often when their lips met.

"Do you smell that?" Caroline asked but didn't wait for him to answer. "Funnel cake."

Klaus let out a chuckle as Caroline followed her nose to the funnel cake, pulling him along behind her. He was more than a little out of his depth with these surroundings but Caroline slipped seamlessly into the environment. Klaus was fascinated by the small-town girl in Caroline coming out to play. In fact, he rather enjoyed it. Though Klaus suspected there wasn't a side to Caroline that he wouldn't find completely captivating.

Funnel cake in hand, the two were maneuvering their way through the crowds as a parade began to work its way down the street.

"Oh, we can watch from over here." Caroline exclaimed, pulling him along to a relatively empty corner where quaint seats and tables were set up outside of an ice cream shop.

Sitting in two chairs pulled up beside each other, Caroline watched the parade and Klaus watched Caroline. He watched her eyes light up and her perfect lips curve into that smile he loved.

"Ah, the pageant queens." Caroline exclaimed as a float carrying girls in dresses rolled by. "I happen to have been Miss Mystic Falls." She said, turning to face Klaus.

"I know." He replied with an easy smile.

Caroline arched her eyebrow. "Let me guess, I mentioned it once."

Klaus just nodded, grinning back at her.

It was a strange realization for Caroline. Of course she knew a lot about him, but that was part of her job. She hadn't realized Klaus had been so…attentive to her.

"Come on." Caroline said, hopping to her feet and pulling him up. "You have to win me something. It's customary."

Klaus laughed as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "I'm afraid I have no experience with fair games, sweetheart, so a win is unlikely."

"Then I'll win you something." She said, beaming as she pulled him towards the games.

Klaus followed along with a laugh, knowing he had already won because he had her.


	15. Chapter 15

Caroline had been on her fair share of first dates in her life but she couldn't remember one that had left her feeling so…smiley. Klaus could have done anything. Anything. A fancy dinner, an expensive boat ride, tickets to the ballet. But he'd done the one thing he knew was guaranteed to make her smile.

And Caroline was still grinning as Klaus led her upstairs to his bedroom, lugging the huge stuffed shark Caroline had won for him. She laughed a little beneath her breath remembering how she'd made a joke about choosing that one because he was a Wall Street shark.

"You know, you better keep him or I'll be offended." Caroline teased as they walked into the bedroom and he shut the door behind them.

Klaus dropped the stuffed animal onto the oversized armchair in the corner and it sat there, starkly out of place in the otherwise ornate room. Striding forward, he had Caroline in his arms in a matter of seconds.

"I'll cherish it forever." He said, mimicking her same mocking tone as his fingers dove into her hair.

"You'd better." Caroline said with a laugh before his lips were on hers.

The kiss was slow, not at all like the frenzied, hungry kisses they'd last shared. Klaus sipped at her lips, his tongue darting out to tease hers. He loved the way Caroline tasted and savored it. Warm and delicious. Her breaths escaped in little gasps, bursting into his mouth and sending a shiver racing down his spine. He wanted more. So much more. Groaning low in his throat, Klaus wrapped his arms tighter around her so he could gather her closer against his body.

It was the sound of his phone ringing that finally tore them apart. Klaus brushed his lips against hers a final time before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone, glancing once at it before returning his gaze to Caroline.

"I have to return a few calls." Klaus said, his eyes darting from hers down to her kiss swollen lips and back again.

"That's fine." Caroline replied, smiling up at him. "Mind if I take a quick shower to wash the fair off of me?"

"Go right ahead." Klaus said, gesturing toward the adjoining bathroom and trying desperately to not picture Caroline in his shower. He still had a number of business calls to make and an erection right now would be quite the distraction.

Klaus waited, watching as Caroline practically skipped into the bathroom, before turning and heading down to his office.

Once inside the bathroom, Caroline took a brief moment to admire the room all over again, her eyes landing on the enormous marble clawfoot tub. Deciding Klaus probably wouldn't mind, Caroline choose to forgo the shower in favor of running herself a warm bath. While the water filled the tub, Caroline stripped off her clothes and tugged her hair into a messy high bun. A quick search in the cabinets produced a bottle of soap and moments later Caroline sighed in pleasure as she sank down into the sudsy, warm water. Holding her breath and shutting her eyes, Caroline submerged herself in the water for a few moments before shooting back up, wiping the suds from her face. Arms resting on the sides and head tilted back over the edge, Caroline slipped into a tranquil trance, her eyes drifting closed. She lost track of how long she'd been in there as sleep started to creep in.

"Is there room enough in there for two?"

At the sound of Klaus' smooth voice, Caroline's eyes shot open and she looked up to see him standing by the tub.

"There's room in here for an entire tribe." She said, kicking a leg up above water level and causing water to gush over the sizes and onto the floor.

Klaus smirked down at her before starting to strip and Caroline licked her suddenly dry lips. She hadn't quite had a chance to admire him in all his glory yet and her eyes raced up and down his body. Snapping out of it, Caroline slid forward so Klaus could climb in the tub behind her before sliding backwards into his arms.

"How did your calls go?" She asked as she got comfortable, leaning back against his hard chest.

Klaus trailed a finger up and down Caroline's arm, from her shoulder to her elbow and back again, fascinated by the soft skin. "Longer than expected. Walter called and had me on the phone for fifteen minutes before finally getting to the point about some smaller businesses he wants to sell off." Walter Caldwell was an old friend and colleague of Klaus'. The much older man had a tendency to drag on in conversations but he'd been one of the few veterans to the game that had given Klaus a chance when he was just starting so he always returned the favor by listening. Though listening when he knew Caroline was waiting for him had been particularly hard to say the least.

"I'll put a lunch on the books. And didn't I read somewhere he just had a fourth wedding? You should send a gift. Are tickets to Coppélia at Lincoln Center okay?" Caroline asked, already mentally writing the card.

Klaus lowered his head to brush his lips across Caroline's shoulder. "You're talking about work again." He murmured, trailing his lips from her shoulder up her neck.

"I'm still your assistant, we're going to have to talk about work eventually." Caroline replied with a short laugh.

"Mhm, but eventually doesn't have to be tonight." Klaus shot back, switching sides to run his lips across her right shoulder.

Caroline tilted her head back until it rested on his shoulder, giving him better access. Peeking to the side she threw him a small smile. "Thanks for today."

"It was my pleasure." Klaus replied, lifting his lips from her neck to grin back at her.

"I'm sure traipsing through crowded streets in crushing heat isn't your idea of a good time." Caroline pointed out, thinking back to how calm Klaus had been despite being so clearly out of his element.

"You're my idea of a good time." He responded, perching his arms on the sides of the tub by hers.

Caroline kicked a leg up, watching as water splashed over the sides again. "This tub is huge, I could drown in here."

"Not likely, love." Klaus said with a laugh, reaching off to the side and lifting a bottle of shampoo before squirting some into his hands.

Caroline felt his fingers dive into her hair, undoing the messy bun, and let out a sigh of pleasure as he began to wash her curly blonde locks. "I can't swim you know." She pointed out.

"Everyone can swim." Klaus replied, still massaging her head.

"Not me." Caroline said, closing her eyes and leaning into his touch.

"What do you mean? It's like riding a bike – everyone learns at some point."

Caroline shrugged with a small laugh. "I can't ride a bike either."

His fingers paused in her hair and Klaus leaned forward a little to catch her eye. "How did you spend your childhood?"

"I used to have so much energy, my mom put me in all these clubs just to get me out of the house. Cheerleading, girl scouts, gymnastics for a little while. That kind of thing." Caroline shook her head a little, hinting for Klaus to continue his ministrations which he did. "What about you? I'm guessing you know how to swim and ride a bike. Did your parents teach you?"

Klaus threw his head back and laughed. He tried to picture Mikael teaching him how to ride a bike or Esther deeming the pool sanitary enough to get in and teach him to swim. "No. Elijah did." Klaus smiled fondly as he thought of his older brother. Elijah had taught his little siblings everything they knew. He'd been their fearless leader. In a lot of ways he still was.

"What was your childhood like?" Caroline asked, curious now.

Klaus paused for a moment before replying with "crowded. But fun, I suppose." He didn't want to go into all the nasty bits that had come later in life when the truth about his parentage had come out.

"Your turn." Caroline said, shifting around in the tub until she was facing him on her knees, water sloshing everywhere.

Klaus arched an eyebrow and Caroline ignored it, reaching for the shampoo. She grinned as she began to wash his hair, Klaus tilting his head forward to give her better access.

The feeling of Caroline's fingers running through his hair, massaging his scalp, was even better than Klaus had expected and he shut his eyes, relaxing under her touch. His eyes stayed closed as Caroline spoke again.

"At least you had siblings. Being an only child sucked sometimes."

Klaus hummed noncommittally. "Careful what you wish for sweetheart." He loved his siblings but there had been days when he'd wished he was an only child.

Caroline moved her fingers from his hair and dropped her hands onto his shoulders, kneading them with her hands. Klaus hummed again, this time in pleasure as Caroline massaged his shoulders. Seconds later her hands froze and she spoke again.

"Hey, what's this?" Caroline asked, her voice clearly confused.

Klaus opened his eyes to watch her. "What's what?"

"How have I never seen this before?" Caroline asked, inching closer and peeking over his shoulder at the tattoo on the upper left side of his back.

_**Varvici**_

Klaus shifted back in an attempt to get away but in true Caroline fashion, she just followed. Her finger traced over the solitary word written in old style cursive. "What does it mean?"

Klaus was silent for a moment before responding. "It's Latin for Warwick."

Caroline waited patiently for him to continue, lifting her hand so he could lean back again but scooting closer to follow him.

"My birth father's last name." His eyes were momentarily downcast as he spoke.

"Birth father?" Caroline asked. She'd known his family background had been complicated to say the least but Klaus was never really open with the details. Until now anyway.

Eager to distract himself, Klaus lifted a sponge and began to wash Caroline as he spoke, momentarily letting himself get lost in the smooth feel of her skin.

"On my 16th birthday my mother decided I was old enough to know the truth. Or at least that's what she claims. I've always felt she came clean when she did more to spite Mikael than to give me any peace of mind." He let his hands trail down between her full breasts to glide across her stomach, abandoning the sponge in the soapy water. "I think he must have always known the truth. Maybe I always knew it too." Klaus said with a shrug. "But in true Esther fashion, my mother needed to have her moment. Even as she sat me down to tell me the truth, it managed to be all about her. The choices _she_ had made. The sacrifices _she_ had endured. The pain _she_ had suffered."

Klaus paused and remained silent for a moment as Caroline ran her hands comfortingly up and down his chest. She was all but straddling him and all Klaus wanted to do was forget this entire conversation and lose himself in her. But instead, he carried on.

"George Aaron Warwick. That was his name. The man my mother had an affair with. My father." The word still felt foreign on his tongue even after all these years. "After she told me, I tracked him down. I even found him. But once I saw him outside, playing with his children." Klaus just shrugged. "I was no one to him. A sixteen year old with a chip the weight of the world on my shoulder. So instead of disrupting his happy little life I just…walked away. A week later I got the name Warwick tattooed on my shoulder. I guess I thought it would remind me of who I really was - of my true parentage."

"And did it?" Caroline asked softly, afraid speaking any louder would somehow break the moment.

Again Klaus slipped into silence before letting out a humorless chuckle. "I regretted it almost a year later. By that point, the truth had dawned on me. George Warwick was no more of a father to me than Mikael Mikaelson was."

"Then why keep the tattoo? Why not have it removed?" Caroline questioned.

"As a reminder." Klaus said, wrapping his arms around her waist. "That a name is just that – a name. I won't let a name define who I am. Or who I become for that matter."

Caroline ran her fingers through his hair again, staring down at him. She lowered her head to brush her lips against his, her eyes still open and locked on his.

"Thanks for sharing that with me." She murmured and Klaus' lips curved into a genuine smile.

"Anytime, love." And oddly enough, he meant it. Klaus hadn't told that story to anyone else but telling it to Caroline felt…right.

Klaus tightened his grip on her, pressing her firmly to his chest as their wet bodies slid along each other. She was just a bit higher than him, enough that her breasts bobbed over the surface of the bubbles and were directly in front of his face, the picture of temptation. He slid his cheek over the enticing swell of her breast and when he got to the nipple, he sucked it gently between his teeth, giving it an experimental tug. When Caroline let out a low moan, he sucked harder, finding a rhythm that he knew was destined to drive her insane. She wriggled in his arms, rocking against his body. She was slick but Klaus held her tightly to him, not allowing any space between them. Without lifting his mouth from her heaving breast, Klaus moved one of his hands down to the smooth juncture of her legs, where she cradled his cock against her pussy. The other arm remained firmly around her waist, anchoring her so she couldn't move.

His fingers danced across super-sensitive skin, flicking ever so lightly over her clit before he went seeking lower, finding her entrance before toying with it. Teasing, circling, inserting barely the tip of his finger inside before retreating as Caroline chased him with her hips. She palmed his shoulders before curling her fingers into the muscles in his back. Her nails dug into his skin, hard enough to leave their mark, but he didn't protest. He kept sucking at her breast, moving to the other plump globe to give it equal attention.

A deep sigh escaped Caroline as she threw her head back on a moan. Pleasure was liquid silver in her veins, spreading to every part of her body until she was consumed by it.

Done teasing her now, Klaus slid two fingers deep inside her as his gaze lifted to hers, his eyes piercing and so intense as he worked deeper into her. He thumbed her clit lightly before spreading the two fingers, stretching her deliciously. Moving at a torturously slow pace, his fingers slipped deeper and Caroline cried out when he grazed a point so sensitive that she nearly came on the spot. She trembled wildly in his arms and tightened her grip on his shoulders. Caroline realized her nails were about to break the skin and she yanked her hands away.

"Sorry," she said with a small smile.

Klaus' arm left her waist long enough for his hand to grasp one of hers. He lifted it back to his shoulder, clamped it down and then proceeded to do the same with the other.

"I like it, sweetheart." he said huskily. "I want to wear your marks."

Caroline closed her eyes and shuddered when he slid deep with his fingers again, caressing the slick walls of her pussy. He found that perfect spot again and exerted just the right amount of pressure. Her thighs quivered and she went weak, but he held her close, supporting her as she tilted her head forward to lean her forehead against his.

"I wonder how fast I can get you off," he murmured, with a hint of genuine curiosity. "You're so incredibly responsive. So hypersensitive." He grazed her clit again and Caroline shuddered. "Every time I touch you, you do this sexy little shiver that makes me crazy. Your perfect little nipples pucker and become so hard that all I want to do is spend the night sucking them."

Caroline let out a full-body shiver at the naughty, husky words murmured so close to her mouth and Klaus gave a smug smile.

His thumb caressed her clit, adding the perfect amount of pressure as his fingers continued to glide through her wetness. His teeth grazed her nipple, toying, nipping, teasing, and then he sucked hard, tugging strongly.

"Klaus," she whispered breathlessly.

He loved the way his name sounded falling from her lips.

Caroline's hands left his shoulders and went to his hair, diving into the unruly, wet strands. She curled her fingers into the silky mass and gripped his head tightly as she felt her release come closer. Desperate now, Caroline rose up from the suds, water cascading down her body as she rode his fingers enthusiastically. She writhed and ground downward, wanting more. Needing more. She cupped the back of his head, holding him pressed against her breast as he nipped and sucked at her nipple. Each time he bit into the taut puckered crest, a liquid bolt of pleasure scorched through her veins like fire.

Her release rose sharply, setting Caroline's nerves on fire. So fast it left her panting and straining, her entire body so tight it was delectably painful. She bucked upward and then back down, her body frantically seeking that ultimate satisfaction she knew only he could provide. Seconds later her orgasm washed over her. It ricocheted through her body with enough force to have Caroline shuddering. She trembled against him and slid down his body, her head falling to his shoulder on a breathless sigh.

Klaus caught her, holding her close so she didn't fall farther into the water. Watching Caroline come was almost painfully erotic. In the aftermath, she buried her face in his neck, sucking in deep breaths as her chest heaved against his. For the longest moment, he simply held her, rubbing his hand up and down her back as she breathed into his neck. Klaus dipped his head down to kiss and nibble lightly at her slick shoulder, sending chill bumps racing down her back. She was so wrapped up in him, Caroline hardly noticed the water had gone cold.

When Caroline's breath evened out, he broke the silence.

"I need to get you out and dried off." Klaus said, taking note of the goose-bumps racing up her arms. "You're getting cold."

"And pruney." Caroline said, finding the energy to lift her hand to in front of her face and observing the wrinkled skin there.

Klaus stood and stepped out of the tub and Caroline let out a sound of appreciation as she saw his rigid erection straining upward. She licked her lips, unaware she'd done so until she caught Klaus' expression as he stared down at her.

"Careful, love." he said hoarsely.

Caroline blinked and gazed up at him innocently. "What?"

He growled low in his throat. "Tease."

She just smiled as he pulled a towel off the warming rack and wrapped it around his waist before holding another one open and gesturing for her to stand. Caroline climbed out of the tub and Klaus engulfed her in the warmth of the towel and his embrace. They stood there for a moment in silence, wrapped around each other, before Klaus led her back into the bedroom.

They came to a stop in front of the bed and Klaus dipped his head to brush his lips over hers in a barely there kiss. He kissed the corner of her mouth before brushing his lips across her cheek, lifting his hands to cradle her face in his palms. The air practically crackled around them as Klaus brought his lips to hers again in a heated kiss. His tongue pushed into her mouth, soft and velvet, warm over hers. His hands left her face to skim down her arms, gripping her tighter and then pulling her even closer as the heated sounds of their kisses rose and filled her ears.

With a quick flick of his fingers, Klaus had Caroline's towel falling to the floor, leaving her bare to his touch. His palms slid slowly up her belly to cup her breasts. He lifted and weighed the slight swells in his hands, reveling in the feel of her before he brushed his thumbs over her nipples, causing them to go instantly and achingly erect, as if her every need hadn't just been met back in the tub. Awareness simmered low in her belly as Klaus' heat engulfed her.

Burying her fingers in his hair, Caroline felt Klaus move them backward until the back of her knees bumped against the bed. He lowered her to the bed and when her back met the mattress, his hands began to slide over her body, caressing and touching almost reverently and as if he couldn't help himself. His calloused palms glided over her heaving breasts again and then to her belly and finally to her hips. Tugging her forward a little, Klaus positioned Caroline so her ass was right at the edge of the bed and her legs dangled over.

Caroline's fingers clutched the sheets as he knelt on the carpeted floor between her thighs. Her breath hiccupped and a groan tore violently from her throat as Klaus lowered his mouth. When his tongue grazed her clit, her entire body quaked. Using his fingers to spread her further, Klaus dove in, licking her again in slow, long laps. Caroline couldn't hold back the shudders that wracked her body as pleasure rolled through her. Klaus wasn't the least bit tentative as he explored her body. He stroked his tongue over her clit and then down to her entrance before pushing inward, licking and sucking like she was a luscious treat.

Klaus paused briefly to inhale Caroline, savoring her sweet scent of arousal. Parting her plush folds again, he took in the glistening, slick flesh. Pretty, pink perfection, tiny and as delicately rendered as the rest of her. It was like opening petals to a flower and finding dew inside. He blew softly over her clit and watched as the tiny nub puckered and strained upward. Again, Klaus swiped his tongue leisurely over the taut bud, enjoying the instant jerk of her body, her hips rising momentarily off the bed. He lapped gently, working his mouth over her at a torturously slow pace. Klaus took his time, exploring every smooth inch of her velvety heat, sliding downward to circle her opening with his tongue and then nuzzling it with his lips.

Caroline writhed uncontrollably beneath him, arching upward to seek more of his mouth. Klaus glanced up to watch her in that moment, loving the way she was so responsive, loving that it was him bringing her to these heights. With a satisfied grin, Klaus returned his attention to her sweet pussy, sliding his tongue inside her and picking up the pace, fucking her with rapid, short strokes. He savored her slick flesh on his tongue, the sweet rush filling his mouth. Klaus could gladly do this all night. He loved the indescribable taste of her. Loved the smooth feel of her on his tongue. Soft. Silky. Like nothing he'd ever had before. Like nothing he'd ever even imagined.

Klaus could tell when Caroline was inching toward another release. Her body grew tauter, her breathing sped up and Klaus (reluctantly) pulled his mouth away. The next time she came, he wanted to be buried deep inside her. So deep she'd forget every other lover she'd ever had, just like he forgot the women that had come before Caroline.

Shooting up on her elbows, Caroline threw Klaus a look that was both desperate and fervent. "Don't tease." She said breathlessly. "Fuck me already."

Klaus smirked before dropping a kiss on one hip and then the other. "Fuck you?" His lips brushed across her stomach. "No, sweet Caroline, I'm going to make love to you." He crawled over her as he stood, his lips grazing the underside of her breasts. "Again, and again," he bit gently on one puckered nipple "and again."

Caroline was moments away from clawing shamelessly at him when Klaus lifted himself off her to pull a condom from the nightstand table. She shifted to lay fully on the bed and her need had climbed even higher by the time Klaus slid on top of her, the slick bodies pressed flush against each other.

Klaus pressed his lips to hers, swallowing Caroline's moans as his cock rubbed teasingly against her folds. Her hips rocked up and down of their own volition, wanton and needy and not caring in the least.

"Please." Caroline murmured, her nails raking down his back.

Inching forward, Klaus slid into her tight sheath, inhaling a deep breath at the way she gripped him, sucked him in. Pressing his lips to hers again and swallowing her groans, Klaus pushed in to maximum depth, his balls straining heavily against her mound. Then he held himself there, his hands sliding slowly over her arms, her breasts, her stomach – caressing every perfect curve as though he was still in awe of her. His hands were everywhere, eliciting strong shivers from her very core. Caroline closed her eyes, reveling in the sensation of being completely filled, so full she stretched around his rigid length.

Finally Klaus withdrew and then gradually rocked forward again, slow and sensual, utterly controlled. Her breasts heaved and Caroline could have sworn she felt her heart expand in her chest. Settling into a slow rhythm, Klaus withdrew again, dragging the head of his cock to the mouth of her pussy then pulled out even more until the tip barely rimmed her opening. With his lips trailing kisses up her neck and across her jaw, Klaus slid back into paradise as Caroline tightened around him.

Each movement through hypersensitive tissues made her quiver and twitch as Caroline clung to Klaus. She felt Klaus big hands grip her hips, stroking almost reverently before gliding down to cup her ass in his palms in a deliciously possessive grip.

"Look at me Caroline." The words were gruff as Klaus stared down at her.

Her eyes shot open and locked on his. It was almost overwhelming – all the things she saw swirling there. Caroline could only imagine what he saw in her eyes.

Her back arched as Klaus plunged in again, burying himself deep in her. The sensation was astounding—everything all at once—the feeling of his rough chest on hers, of his scruffy face against her neck, of her arms around his neck and hands diving into his hair, of his hands pulling her thighs around his waist, of his hips pivoting as he moved in her. Caroline felt pulled in about dozen different directions. His hands, his mouth, his body. He was everywhere all at once and she was drowning in the pleasure.

Caroline lost track of time as they stayed this way, Klaus rocking in and out of her at a deliciously slow pace. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms clung to him, keeping him pressed flush against her body. Caroline felt the rush begin low in her belly, coming from the very heart of her, tightening viciously, coiling, snapping like a whip, spreading like wildfire through her veins, sparking every sensitive nerve ending. The pressure was exquisitely unbearable and yet, Caroline never wanted it to end. She cried up to the ceiling as her release came crashing down over her, her body writhing under Klaus and her nails sinking into his skin. Caroline wasn't completely sure what it was that was crying out for. For him. For God. To stop. To never stop. She wasn't entirely sure.

As she came, Caroline tightened almost unbearably around Klaus, triggering his own release. He growled, burying himself deep again as her pussy clenched around his cock. His entire body tensed as he let go, shuddering once before collapsing on top of her.

Caroline floated downward in a dizzying haze, her body weightless, her mind completely adrift. She wasn't even entirely sure she was still conscious. When she did regain some semblance of consciousness, Caroline became aware of Klaus' weight covering her. He was sagging and his chest heaved with exertion, but he felt so good, so incredibly solid on top of her. Caroline never wanted him to move from this spot. She pressed her lips gently to the hollow indention at his collarbone and savored the connection, savored the feeling, before Klaus finally pulled out and rolled off, promptly pulling Caroline into his side.

Caroline wanted to say something, she wasn't sure what – something, but her eyes drifted shut and she fell asleep before she had the chance.

Klaus would like to say the weekend didn't continue on in the same vein but the truth was he couldn't quite get enough of Caroline. In fact, he couldn't imagine ever getting enough. Saturday passed in a blur and Sunday went the same way.

* * *

On Monday, Klaus insisted they work from the apartment. But without a change of clothes Caroline had no choice but to dress in nothing but Klaus' shirt and with Caroline in nothing but his white undershirt that did nothing to hide the swell of her breasts or the tautness of her nipples, sitting at her desk the definition of temptation Klaus found it hard to get any work done. But work was exactly what they did, at Caroline's insistence.

That night Caroline witnessed Klaus use his kitchen for the first time when he insisted on cooking for her. She'd been wary at first – understandably so since she'd never seen him attempt to do so much as boil water.

Sitting at the counter, Caroline watched him move around the kitchen. "What are you going to make? Pasta?" She asked. It was the go-to for all her past boyfriends.

Klaus scoffed derisively. "Caroline, any guy can boil a box of noodles. I'm going to really cook for you. What are we in the mood for? I make splendid Ethiopian dishes but most of those include peanuts and you're allergic."

Caroline was about to ask how he knew she had a peanut allergy but stopped short. She knew what the answer would be. He knew because she had mentioned it once at some time or another.

Finally Klaus decided on Cajun chicken and quinoa with a small side of some spicy spinach dish he had her try over the stove.

"You really weren't kidding about being able to cook." Caroline said as she savored the spicy dish, watching Klaus stir some more.

He threw a side grin. "I'm a man of many talents."

"I know." Caroline shot back with a cheeky smile.

And while the chicken baked in the oven, Klaus spread Caroline out on the countertop and had her for an appetizer.

By Tuesday Caroline was well aware that they had to leave the apartment or risk becoming complete recluses. And yet, neither of them made any motions to climb out of the bed as the bedside clock flashed 8:30 am.

"We should go into the office today."

Klaus nodded, pulling Caroline closer as she rested her head on his chest. "We will." He'd already had every intention of going into the office, despite his rather odd desire to stay locked away here with Caroline indefinitely. Unfortunately, his real world problems would still be there at the end of the day.

"Mhm, we should get up." Caroline mumbled into his chest and again Klaus just nodded in agreement but didn't move an inch.

A few minutes later Caroline finally untangled her limbs from his, climbing out of the bed and announcing that she was going to go put a pot of coffee on. Grabbing his shirt from the floor, Caroline tugged it on haphazardly as she made her way out of the room and down the stairs.

She was in the kitchen brewing coffee when a voice sounded from behind her.

"Well, what have we here?"

Caroline spun around quickly and almost immediately wished she could be anywhere but where she stood in that moment because standing across from her in the kitchen archway was Rebekah Mikaelson.

"Oh my God." The words were out before Caroline even thought about saying them.

"No," Rebekah replied with a smug grin, arching one perfectly manicured eyebrow. "But close."

* * *

**Beta'd by the lovely Kristen (sweetklausoline). And if you read Some Nights and my drabbles you might be interested in this story we're writing together How It Ends under the account heysweetklarippah.**

**Also going to take a moment to throw some love back to my reviewers. Specifically, MJTE, zvforever, HelloCutePanda, poisonivy228, peanutmm and missgwen33, to name a few. You gals consistently know how to make a girl want to update. So thanks. Thanks to all my lovely reviewers!**


	16. Chapter 16

Caroline had always been one to take embarrassment in stride. Other people wished the ground would swallow them whole but Caroline typically made it a point to hold her head high. Still, there was something particularly mortifying about being caught by your boss' sister in nothing but his t-shirt in his home at 8:30 in the morning.

Caroline's mouth opened and closed wordlessly and before she could figure out what to say a man in uniform, one Caroline recognized from downstairs in the lobby, appeared beside Rebekah wheeling a cart stacked high with suitcases.

"Thank you, Cyrus." Rebekah said, tearing her eyes away from Caroline to tip the man.

Her face reddening, Caroline hoped the doorman wouldn't look over and notice her standing there in next to no clothing. That hope was dashed pretty quickly when Rebekah threw her that same sinister smile again.

"Oh Cyrus, have you met my brother's assistant Caroline?" Rebekah gestured over to where she stood by the counter and Caroline lifted her hand in a small, embarrassed wave.

"Hey, Cyrus."

He nodded once to Caroline before nodding quickly to Rebekah and spinning on his heel to head back to the elevator. Once he was gone Caroline turned back to Rebekah.

"What're you doing here?"

"What am _I _doing here?" Rebekah asked, walking further into the kitchen. "I think the infinitely better question is what are _you _doing here? Kicking the work day off rather early aren't we? And my brother must be very lax in his dress code." She looked Caroline up and down with a raised eyebrow.

Refusing to be intimidated by her, Caroline straightened her shoulders and stood up taller. "If you'll excuse me." She moved forward, brushing past Rebekah and heading back up the stairs.

Once she was out of the other girl's line of sight, Caroline practically sprinted back to Klaus room, flinging the door open as she rushed inside.

"Your sister's here." Caroline said immediately, glancing around for her clothes. When was the last time she had seen her clothes? Klaus had had her locked up in here for days.

Klaus sat up in the bed, watching Caroline scurry around. "What?"

She froze, standing straight again to throw him a look. "Your sister is here. Downstairs."

Klaus muttered beneath his breath as he climbed out of the bed and walked over to his closet. Yes he'd given Rebekah an open ended invitation to come stay with him but his sister had impeccable timing. Klaus had been hoping for at least one more day with Caroline with no interruptions from the outside world. Tugging on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved tee, Klaus left the closet to find Caroline pulling on her clothes from the day of the fair.

He pulled her into his arms, dropping a quick kiss to her lips. "Relax, it's just Rebekah."

"Easy for you to say. She didn't catch you half naked downstairs."

Klaus wanted to reply that Rebekah had caught him in far more compromising positions but refrained, choosing instead to kiss Caroline quickly again before strolling out of the bedroom. He jogged down the stairs, quickly finding Rebekah looking out over the expansive floor to ceiling windows.

"You could have called." Klaus chastised even as he pulled his little sister in for a hug.

Rebekah returned the hug before stepping back and looking at him. "You said, and I quote, 'you have a room at my place for as long as you want it.'"

"You still should have called." Klaus replied though his tone made it clear that he wasn't all that upset about it.

"Why? So you'd have time to hide what you've been up to with your little secretary?" Rebekah bit out.

Klaus' lighthearted mood dissipated and he fixed Rebekah with a stern stare. "I'm thrilled you're here Bekah but you _will _treat Caroline with respect."

Rebekah didn't respond, instead giving a nonchalant shrug. She wasn't making any promises. In her experience, women who went after her brothers were typically vultures – the gold-digging kind. And if Klaus was so wrapped up in a bit of tail that he was blind to the truth then it was Rebekah's job to find out what Caroline's real intentions were.

"Go get settled in, we'll have breakfast." Klaus said, already moving toward the kitchen.

Rebekah took a moment to take in his abnormally buoyant attitude before heading over to the stairs. Just because he seemed happy didn't mean she had nothing to worry about. Many a man had fallen prey to some good sex.

Klaus was whipping up a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and sausage when he felt more than saw Caroline enter the kitchen. She was light on her feet and that soft, sweet smell that was 100% Caroline drifted into the room. Turning off the stove, Klaus walked over to Caroline, pulling her into his arms.

"And where are you going?" He asked, eyeing her bag slung over her arm.

"I have to go home, shower, change and get into the office."

Klaus nodded. "After breakfast."

"Uh-" Caroline swayed on her feet, "wouldn't you rather catch up with your sister alone?" She knew she was making excuses but Caroline did not find the idea of breakfast with Rebekah right now appealing.

Klaus could read as much in her gaze but simply pulled her tighter into his arms. "I made enough for three. Don't worry she'll be civil."

Rebekah was an important part of his life but now so was Caroline. He'd make sure his sister was civil.

"Could you set the table?" Klaus gave into the urge to kiss her again before backing away toward the stove, not giving Caroline the chance to protest anymore.

With a groan, Caroline put her bag down and went to set the table. She and Rebekah hadn't gotten off to the finest start this morning but she was Klaus' sister so Caroline supposed she'd have to make an effort. She only hoped Rebekah would be willing to do the same.

A few minutes later, Caroline and Klaus were just sitting down at the kitchen table by the enormous corner windows when Rebekah strolled back in, taking the seat across from Caroline.

She eyed the girl once before turning to her brother. "I've taken the last room on the right."

"Good." Klaus responded, sliding food onto his plate. He had expected as much – Rebekah loved the view in that room and stayed in the same one every time she visited. "How are things back home?"

Rebekah paused before answering. "We've certainly been better. But you know Elijah – grace under fire. Mother's been asked to step down as head of the Chelsea Arts Society, you can imagine she's livid. You know how she is though; she won't go down without a fight."

Klaus let out a light laugh, turning to face Caroline. "People have a tendency to underestimate that woman." He could see Rebekah was clearly trying to exclude her from the conversation but his sister would learn soon enough that Caroline was very much ingrained in his life.

"The town tried to get my mom to step down as sheriff once, she didn't take it so well either." Caroline said with a smile.

Rebekah grimaced. "Fascinating story."

"Your mother's a sheriff?" Klaus asked, ignoring Rebekah's snide comment and filing the information away on his 'things about Caroline' list.

Caroline just nodded, fixing Rebekah with an equally dismissive stare. The silent standoff might have continued if it weren't for the shrill ringing of Caroline's phone from her bag. Recognizing it as the ringtone of her work Blackberry, she reached quickly into her purse and pulled it out.

"Fantastic manners on this one." Rebekah said, turning her head to face her brother again.

"It's Alaric." Caroline said, looking up from the phone and at Klaus.

He reached for the phone and Caroline handed it over, watching as Klaus stood up from the table and walked away. Once he was out of hearing distance, Rebekah trained her most intimidating stare on Caroline.

"Well aren't you a lucky girl." She said, cutting through all pretenses and getting directly to the point. "Small town girl moves to the big city and lands wealthy man. Tell me Caroline, was being a glorified secretary always your plan or are you more ambitious than that?" Rebekah asked, her tone making it clear just what kind of money-scenting ambition she thought Caroline possessed.

Not easily intimidated now that she was fully dressed, Caroline threw back a glare of her own. "I happen to really like your brother and your suggestion that I'd only be with him for his money or status is more of an insult to him than it is to me. Or do you not think he has anything more to offer?"

Rebekah narrowed her eyes, leaning further across the table. "I know my brother better than you ever will and I'm well aware of everything that he has to offer."

"So we've found common ground then." Caroline shot back.

Rebekah just scoffed. "Hardly."

Caroline didn't have the chance to respond when Klaus reappeared, a displeased look on his face.

"I have to head into the office now."

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows up at him, taking in his demeanor that had been so relaxed a few minutes ago but was noticeably tense now. "Is something wrong?"

Klaus could tell her that the S.E.C. auditor had just shown up, a few days earlier than they had anticipated, but he was distinctly trying to make a big ordeal out of this. So instead he said, "nothing I can't handle. Stay, finish having breakfast and I'll see you at the office later."

Leaving Caroline alone with his sister in the kitchen, Klaus went back up to his bedroom. By the time he was showered and changed, he returned to the kitchen to find Caroline gone already. Of course, Klaus should have expected as much – leaving her alone with Rebekah who could spit venom with the precision of a snake when she wanted to.

Still he asked, "where's Caroline?"

"I have no clue." Rebekah responded with a shrug.

Stepping closer to his sister, Klaus fixed her with his no nonsense stare. "She's not going anywhere Rebekah. The sooner you accept that the smoother things will be while you're here."

Rebekah just rolled her eyes. "Well you're leaving me for the day; do you know where Stefan is?" She tried to sound casual but they both knew her interest in Stefan was anything but casual.

"Listen, Bekah," Klaus said, placing both hands on her shoulders. "You need to stay away from Stefan right now. He could be in some trouble and I don't want you involved." His sister had crossed an ocean to get away from Mikael's crimes, she didn't need to get involved with Stefan at the moment.

"What does that even mean Nik?" Rebekah's shoulders tensed as worry slammed into her. It had been awhile since she and Stefan had last spoken but Rebekah still cared about him and if Klaus sensed trouble then clearly there was reason to worry.

Ignoring her question, Klaus moved toward the elevator as he spoke. "You have plenty of friends in the city, I'm sure you'll find something to do."

Rebekah let out a cross between a huff and a scoff but Klaus only threw a smirk her way as the elevator doors shut.

Once at the office, Klaus strode directly toward Alaric's office where he knew his VP would be keeping the SEC official occupied. As he got closer, a female voice drifted out from Ric's office and for a split second Klaus swore he knew that particular voice. He didn't have to wonder about it for much longer as Alaric exited his office alongside the woman in question.

The SEC was a large organization and it could have been anyone. Anyone. But it was _her._

* * *

By the time Caroline made it into the office after returning to her apartment for the first time in days, she had given the Rebekah situation enough thought and had shelved it in the back of her mind. If the girl had it out for her then there really wasn't anything she could do about it and there was certainly no point in fruitlessly worrying about it.

Turning her attention to other matters, Caroline was striding down the hall toward Klaus' office when she paused to watch Alaric and Jenna in the distance, huddled together and staring intently at something.

"What are we doing?" She asked, sneaking up on them and smiling a little when Jenna spun around with a jumpy look on her face.

Caroline didn't wait for a response, looking past the two to see what they were staring at. Her eyes landed on Klaus with a tall, brunette woman standing in one of the glass-walled conference rooms. She wondered briefly why they hadn't taken this meeting to Klaus' office before Alaric's voice snapped Caroline from her thoughts.

"This is good. This is good." He said, running his fingers over his jaw while he watched the two talk in the distance.

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"That's the auditor." Alaric said, nodding toward the conference room. "She and Klaus go way back. B-school."

"B-school?" Caroline asked, throwing Jenna a confused look.

The other woman just nodded. "Business school. They went to Wharton together."

"This is good." Alaric repeated again, his eyes not straying. "If he plays his cards right, turns up the charm, reignites some old sparks, we may get out of this unscathed…" He trailed off as he turned to face the women. Jenna was shooting daggers at him with her eyes and Caroline looked disappointed somehow.

"That's not really his style." Jenna said to Caroline, placing a hand on her shoulder and throwing her a placating smile.

Alaric was about to point out that charming women to get what he wanted was exactly Klaus' style but thought better of it.

"You think that would help? Klaus showing interest in this woman?"

Alaric shrugged, turning to face the conference room again. "Well it wouldn't hurt."

"He wouldn't do that," Jenna repeated again throwing daggers at Alaric who was somehow still missing all the signs. "Besides, I'd like to remind everyone that we wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for Damon."

"Really, Jenna? Really? Now?" Alaric asked, his exasperation clear in his voice.

"I'm just saying." Jenna held her hands up in defense. "The Salvatores brought trouble to our doorstep and we all know who brought it to theirs."

Alaric didn't get a chance to respond as Klaus and the unidentified woman exited the conference room and began to walk down the hall.

"Shit." Alaric muttered before spinning around again to face Caroline and Jenna and speaking louder now. "So yes, I'd like to see that monthly report on my desk by the end of the day. Good hustle team."

Ric continued to ramble on but Caroline barely registered the sound of his voice as she watched Klaus and the woman walk down the hall toward the elevators. He glanced once in her direction and their eyes locked for just a second before the pair moved on.

"I should get to work." She muttered once Klaus and the woman were out of sight.

Caroline was walking off before either of them could respond. Behind her, Jenna slapped Alaric on the arm, muttering heatedly beneath her breath about him being oblivious.

Back at her desk, Caroline dropped into her chair and tucked her purse away. She knew she was worrying for no reason. So Alaric said Klaus and this woman had history. Everyone had a past. Though that nagging voice in the back of her head reminded her that not everyone's past came back to the present. Even as she tried to turn her focus to work, Caroline couldn't stop the internal war that raged on in her head.

On the one hand, after everything she and Klaus had been through to get where they were, she should trust him. But on the other hand, it was all too easy for Caroline to remember how Klaus had been those first few months that she'd started working for him. Monogamy didn't exactly seem to be in his nature.

And then a third, more sobering thought hit Caroline. Klaus still had to deal with Tyler. Here she was having a full-fledged anxiety attack over one woman Klaus had dated in grad school and who would only be here for a few weeks tops while Tyler, her very recent ex-boyfriend, would be roaming the halls for the foreseeable future. And then Caroline's mind was racing all over again.

Tyler. She hadn't thought about him in days. Hadn't returned any of his calls or texts.

Caroline let out a soft sigh. She'd have to deal with him eventually, especially since he was bound to come back to work soon. Before she could give herself a headache, Caroline shut it all off – turning her focus to work.

* * *

As they stood by the elevator, Klaus took in Elizabeth's appearance. Surprisingly, she hadn't changed much in the last decade. Same shoulder length brown hair, same poised stance, same inbred grace. He'd seen the look on Caroline's face as they walked by and was already prepping himself to explain. Beth might not have changed but he certainly had. And Caroline was largely responsible for that.

"What are the chances you, of all people, would be the auditor for my firm?" Klaus asked as they stepped into the elevator. The question had been on the tip of his tongue throughout the entire, albeit short, meeting.

Beth just faced forward, her lips curling into a small smirk. "Is that your way of saying you wish you'd never seen me again?"

"It's my way of commenting on what a small world it is."

She only laughed and they were silent for a moment more before Klaus spoke again.

"So what incited this particular audit?" He asked, careful to keep his voice casual.

Beth turned her head to the side to fix a penetrating stare on him. "Why do you ask?"

"Still have that nasty little habit of answering questions with questions, I see."

"I remember you being more charming." She shot back, turning to face forward again.

Klaus knew he still had plenty of charm. He just had no interest in charming anyone that wasn't Caroline.

"I remember you being more forthcoming." He shot back, arching one eyebrow.

"Just standard routine. We'll be invisible and out of your hair in no time. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about."

He didn't get a chance to respond when the elevator doors opened and the two stepped out. Klaus walked her through the lobby before turning and all but racing back to the elevator and up to Caroline. When he reached his office door, she stood and followed him in, shutting the door behind them.

"So," Caroline asked, arms swinging at her sides, "how did it go?"

"As well as to be expected." Klaus replied, leaning back against his desk.

Caroline just nodded, biting her lower lip between her teeth. Klaus fought the urge to bury this whole issue and walk over there to bite that plump lip between his teeth.

"Alaric mentioned you two have history." Caroline said, proud of how nonchalant she managed to sound.

But despite her voice coming out smooth and even, Klaus could pick up on all the signs radiating off of Caroline. He hardly blamed her. Klaus hadn't exactly given her any reason to trust him yet – not after everything she knew he was capable of.

"Yes." He replied slowly. "Old, old history."

Caroline stepped closer, crossing her fingers behind her back. "What kind of history?"

And herein lie Klaus' true dilemma. His history with Beth was complicated to say the very least. He could tell Caroline the whole truth but what would that do aside from cause her further undo distress. Beth wasn't a threat to her. No woman was because in Klaus' eyes, no woman could compare. But if he didn't tell her the truth for the sake of sparing her feelings then he'd be lying by omission.

Luckily, Klaus was saved from having to decide at the moment when a knock at the door sounded.

"Come in," He called out quickly, happy for the distraction.

Jenna peeked her head in and glanced at Caroline. "I need your help with a few things." She said slowly, wishing she hadn't interrupted this rather tense feeling moment.

"Uh, sure." Caroline replied, throwing Klaus a final glance before following Jenna out.

Klaus breathed a sigh of relief and walked around his desk to fall into his chair. He paused for a moment before reaching for his phone.

Elijah picked up on the second ring.

"Has Rebekah arrived safely?" His older brother asked once the usual pleasantries were out of the way.

Klaus leaned back in his chair as he spoke. "Bekah's fine and settled in."

"Good. I was worried this environment would be too much for her."

Somewhere in the back of his mind Klaus wondered where Elijah found all the energy to worry about all his siblings and still have some left over to worry about the family empire.

"That's not exactly why I called." Klaus said, hearing the distinct sound of papers stop shuffling on the other end.

"And why did you call?" Elijah asked patiently when Klaus made no moves to continue.

Klaus remained silent for a minute but Elijah didn't rush him despite the fact that he most certainly had more important things to do with his time.

"Hypothetically speaking, if you knew there was something you should tell the person you cared about but you also knew no good would come of it and it would only hurt them - would you tell them?" Klaus finally asked.

There was a brief pause before Elijah responded. "Hypothetically speaking, if you were in a hypothetical relationship you might want to, hypothetically, let your brother know."

Klaus just sighed. "That's not an answer, Elijah."

"So you and Caroline then?" Elijah asked.

"How do you know it's Caroline?"

Elijah scoffed as if Klaus had somehow questioned his intelligence. "I always knew it would be Caroline."

"Elizabeth showed up." Klaus said and heard the sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line.

"Why?" Elijah asked once he'd collected himself.

Klaus hadn't told Elijah about the SEC audit because his older brother had more than enough on his plate and Klaus was perfectly capable of seeing to his own problems. So he couldn't very well explain Elizabeth's presence.

"It's complicated."

Elijah didn't ask any more questions. "Tell her Niklaus. It might sting hearing it from you but it's guaranteed to hurt a lot more coming from someone else."

Klaus had known what Elijah's answer would be before he even dialed the numbers. He just needed to hear him say it.

"Thanks, brother." Klaus said before the two said their goodbyes.

Drumming his fingers on the desk, Klaus tried to get back to the head-space he'd been in when it was only him and Caroline holed up in his apartment. He knew he needed her, knew that he was supposed to be with her. Now if only the rest of the world would get on that same page because he'd had more than enough of fate toying with him.

* * *

**So. Thoughts? **


	17. Chapter 17

Normally, Klaus found he couldn't wait to get Caroline alone and time spent in the office with her just in reach but still inaccessible was an exquisite type of torture. However, that hadn't been the case since Jenna had pulled Caroline away earlier today. For once Klaus was grateful for the string of meetings and phone calls that kept him from being alone with Caroline because he knew once they were alone he'd have to explain the situation with Elizabeth and that was hardly something he was looking forward to. He'd only just gotten Caroline and the thought that he might lose her was almost enough to convince Klaus to keep his mouth shut.

Still, Elijah's words rang continually through his mind throughout the day until it was time to face the music, so to speak. Klaus strode out of his office, coming to a stop right beside Caroline's desk.

"Ready to go, love?" He spoke softly, leaning over her chair and loving the shiver that raced down her spine.

Caroline spun around in the chair to face him as Klaus stood up straight again.

"With you?" She asked, looking up at him with an arched eyebrow.

Klaus furrowed his eyebrows, throwing her a confused look. "Of course, what else?"

Caroline just let out that soft tinkling laugh that had Klaus momentarily forgetting everything he'd been so concerned about earlier. "I assumed after our four day hiatus you'd be ready to spend some time apart."

"Never." Klaus said in a husky voice, taking Caroline's hand in his and pulling her up from the chair.

She laughed again, quickly snatching up her purse before following him down the hall. It wasn't lost on Klaus how Caroline tugged her hand away from his once they cleared the executive suites area. She was still so intent on making sure no one in the office suspected anything.

Tabling the issue for another day, Klaus focused on dealing with the Elizabeth problem first. Once they were seated in the back of his car, Klaus was just about to speak before thinking better of it – he'd wait until they got back to his place. Perhaps after dinner. Hell maybe he'd wait 'til tomorrow.

If Caroline noticed his peculiar mood, she certainly didn't say anything about it. They'd barely stepped into the penthouse when she darted her way to the kitchen, insisting that since he had cooked for them already it would be her turn. Klaus just laughed, retrieving his laptop before settling in at the kitchen counter to watch her work. Caroline whistled and did little dances as she cooked and Klaus spent more time smiling over at her than he did getting any actual work done.

When she finally placed two plates in front of him with a flourish, Klaus wasn't entirely sure what it was he was looking at. It might have been chicken – it certainly started out that way.

"Try it." She said, placing a fork beside his plate.

When he glanced back down at the food, Caroline crinkled her nose in slight distaste. She was far from a cooking savant and had in fact been making it up as she went along. It seemed easy enough at first but one thing led to another and now Caroline wasn't sure what she had produced. At any rate, it wasn't poisonous.

Klaus looked from Caroline back to the plate before picking up the fork and taking a bite. He worked hard to school his face into one of impassivity, swallowing the oddly chewy meat.

"It's fantastic." He finally said after he managed to swallow.

Caroline threw her head back with a laugh as she spoke. "No it's not."

"It's really not." Klaus said, laughing as well as he shoved the plate away.

"Well we can't all be top chefs." Caroline said with a mock serious look, placing both hands on her hips.

Klaus glanced from the plate back to her. "So I see."

She stared back at him, a small smile creeping back onto her face. "Would you really have suffered through that?" She nodded towards the plates.

Klaus was silent for a moment as he bestowed a rare affectionate smile on her. "There isn't anything I wouldn't suffer through for you, Caroline."

She grinned back before practically skipping away. "I'll order in."

Once she'd placed the order, Klaus shut his laptop and followed Caroline into the living room area. Sitting on the sofa, he pulled her down beside him, tugging her into his side.

"You never told me how the whole audit thing is going." Caroline pointed out as she got comfortable in his arms.

Klaus sighed. She'd handed him as good an opening as any. "We'll be fine." After the words were out, Klaus wasn't sure if he was referring to the firm or to him and Caroline. "About Elizabeth-" He began before Caroline cut him off.

"I know. Alaric mentioned you two have history." She'd asked about it earlier but now Caroline wasn't so sure she wanted the answers. The 'exes' talk was a slippery slope and not one Caroline was sure she was ready to go down. Still she said, "You dated right."

For a brief moment Klaus considered leaving it at just that. But Elizabeth wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon and Elijah was right – it'd be less of a big deal if Klaus told her the truth now. He tightened his arm around Caroline as if he could somehow anchor her to him. "We were engaged."

Caroline felt her entire body stiffen and a few seconds passed before she pulled back to lock eyes with Klaus. "Engaged? As in to be married?"

Klaus figured it wasn't a real question but nodded a yes anyway. "For a few months, a long time ago."

"Oh well if it was only for a few months a long time ago," Caroline said sarcastically, pulling further out of his arms despite Klaus' efforts to keep her glued to his side.

"Caroline, please don't use her to keep me at a distance." It occurred to Klaus that at every turn Caroline was looking for an excuse to belittle what they had.

She sucked in a deep breath, scooting further to the side on the couch and turning her head to face him. "Well obviously it fell through so what happened?" Again, Caroline wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know but she couldn't stop herself from asking.

"It's complicated." Klaus winced.

"Try me." Caroline bit back, trying to keep her voice calm.

Klaus remained silent for a while, his eyes locked on hers. Realizing she had no intention of backing down, he finally replied. "We dated at Wharton." Even as he said the words Klaus realized how inaccurate it was. At the time it had seemed like dating but in reality they had just been good friends with great chemistry and no self-control. Klaus had never really known a level of intimacy like the one he had with Caroline now – he'd never really wanted the things he wanted with Caroline. "Our last year Elizabeth got pregnant." Before he could continue Caroline shot up off the couch.

"You have a kid?" Her voice was hoarse and her heart was beating faster than she thought possible.

"No." Klaus stood as well inching closer to Caroline as if he was approaching a barrel of snakes. "I told you it was complicated."

"What does that mean?" Caroline asked, hands flying in the air.

Pressing a finger to his temple, Klaus wished they could go back to twenty minutes ago and not be having this conversation. "She lost the baby."

Silence fell again as Caroline's mind raced to process all the information. "She had a miscarriage and you called off the engagement?"

Klaus was aware the decision made him seem like an asshole and maybe he was but he wouldn't have changed it even if he could. Marrying Elizabeth would have been the biggest mistake of his life and carrying on the engagement for much longer would have been bad for everyone involved. Rubbing his temple he let out a sigh of frustration. "Yes Caroline, I called off the engagement."

Her mouth opened and closed multiple times as Caroline struggled to find the words to say. "But you loved this woman enough to almost marry her."

Klaus had cared deeply for Beth but love hadn't been his reasoning behind proposing to her. He'd never abandon a child the way his father had abandoned him.

Caroline, on the other hand, couldn't imagine that Klaus had proposed only for the sake of the child. He could have just as easily been in his or her life without marrying Elizabeth. Klaus must have loved her to some degree – enough to envision spending the rest of his life with her. And now she was back.

Klaus could practically see Caroline's thoughts churning through her eyes and stepped closer again, placing his hands on her waist. "Sweetheart, this doesn't change anything with us. Beth isn't going to –"

"Oh she's 'Beth' now." Caroline said, stepping back out of his arms and inwardly cringing at the use of the nickname.

Klaus scowled, cocking his head to the side. "It's like you're trying to pick a fight Caroline."

Before she could respond a voice floated from the doorway.

"Trouble in paradise already?" Rebekah's mocking voice drifted across the room and Klaus ripped his eyes away from Caroline to glare over at his sister leaning in the doorframe.

"Not now Rebekah." He all but growled.

Rebekah just smirked. "Oh don't let me interrupt. By all means, carry on." Smile still in place, she sauntered off, happy with the knowledge that she wouldn't have to worry about her brother's relationship since it seemed perfectly capable of self-destructing on its own.

Once Rebekah's footsteps had retreated, Caroline spoke again.

"I should head home."

"Caroline –" He reached for her but she was already snatching up her bag. "Sweetheart, wait." Klaus moved to block her path, his hand reaching up to stroke her cheek. "I didn't tell you this to hurt you. I'm telling you all of this because I want to be honest with you. I want us to trust each other. I want us to work. I _need _us to work."

"I get it. It was a long time ago, it's in the past. It's fine." Caroline tried to shrug nonchalantly but they both knew she was lying through her teeth. "I'll see you tomorrow okay."

She was gone before Klaus could even protest.

Klaus was still standing there a few minutes later when Rebekah reappeared.

"That didn't look too good." She said with a smile as she sauntered into the room.

Turning to her with anger clear in his eyes, Klaus practically growled. "Do you really hold such a strong aversion to my happiness?"

The smile fell quickly from Rebekah's face. There were few people in this world that she genuinely cared about and Nik topped the list. "How could you even say that?" she asked, the hurt clear in her voice.

"You've been nothing but trouble for Caroline and me since you've gotten here." Klaus said.

"I'm looking out for you." Rebekah said, her voice just short of a yell as she strode closer to him.

"No." Klaus said, fixing her with a penetrating glare. "You're looking out for _you_. You're so deeply insecure you fear that any woman who gets close to any of your brothers will replace you."

Rebekah's jaw dropped on a gasp. When she recovered, she said, "You'll slide between the legs of anything that offers, I hardly think that one of your many flings will replace me in your heart."

Klaus was on his sister in a flash, a low growl erupting from his throat. "Don't test me Rebekah."

"Or you'll what?" She bit back, glaring up at him. "Throw me out on the street? Choose her over me?"

His eyes narrowed. "Trust me little sister, it's not a choice you want me to make. Do. Not. Test. Me."

Rebekah opened her mouth to respond but thought better of it. Head held high and shoulders straight, she spun on her heel and strode out of the room.

* * *

That night Caroline didn't get much rest and when she finally did slip into a light sleep it was far from a peaceful one. She dreamt of the life Klaus would have had with a cute curly haired kid running around and Elizabeth on his arm. They were well suited for each other – Caroline could tell as much from her one memory of seeing Elizabeth. It was clear she came from money, like Klaus, and they both worked in the financial sector. They had a history together that Caroline couldn't compete with. She'd been so caught up in the whirlwind of falling for Klaus that Caroline often forget just how different they were – and those differences would inevitably tear them apart.

Waking up a good hour before her alarm went off, Caroline took her time in the shower. Standing in front of the small bathroom sink, she wiped the fog from the mirror and stared back at herself. This wasn't who she was – some insecure twit who flew off the handle at the first sign of a bump in the road.

She laughed humorlessly to herself – Elizabeth wasn't a bump, she was a certified hill.

Pushing the other woman and last night's encounter with Klaus from her mind, Caroline tried to focus on nothing but work as she road in a taxi to the office. She'd barely placed her bag at her desk when Jenna appeared in front of her.

"Good, you're here." She said, dropping a stack of papers on Caroline's desk. "We're swamped with the whole audit thing. There are a bunch of files we need to pull for the SEC review, some of this stuff has never even been sorted and on top of that we have to get the electronic databases up to date. Everything needs to be in top shape so it's an all secretaries' hands on deck kind of day." Jenna was already walking backwards to her desk as she spoke.

The audit made her think of Elizabeth which in turn made her think of last night. And she had been doing so well strategically avoiding it in her mind.

With a sigh, Caroline lifted the first sheet of paper in her hands and scanned it quickly. A second later she was standing from her desk, striding down the hall to the filing room to pull the listed documents. The tedious work kept her mind occupied and Caroline had finally drifted off into some semblance of peace when she was striding out of the file room.

She'd barely made it a few steps when a hard body slammed into hers. Papers scattered to the floor and Caroline immediately knelt to begin snatching them up.

"Déjà vu, huh." Her eyes shot up from the floor to lock with Tyler's who was kneeling in front of her, reaching for the scattered papers.

Taking the papers from his hand and standing again, Caroline tried to school her face into one of impassivity. "Hey, Tyler." She said, hoping he'd let her pass in peace so they could both avoid this awkward moment.

"I'm back at work." He said, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet.

"I see that." Caroline responded with a nod.

"You never answered my calls or texts."

Caroline glanced away, looking down at the files in her hands and pretending to straighten them. "I didn't think we had anything left to talk about."

"Caroline, could you at least look at me?" Tyler said with a sigh.

Sucking in a fortifying breath, Caroline lifted her gaze to train it on his.

Wrapping his hand around her elbow, Tyler pulled Caroline back into the room before she could even protest, the door swinging shut behind them.

"What do you want Tyler?" Caroline asked, her voice cross as she yanked her arm away from his.

He exhaled deeply, looking down to the floor before glancing back up to catch her eye. "I'm not going to try to give you some bullshit excuse for my behavior the last time you saw me because there is no excuse. I was drunk and hurt but that doesn't make what I did to you the least bit acceptable. All I can do now is say I'm sorry. And Caroline, I really am sorry. More than you'll ever understand."

Caroline took in his words and struggled to find something to say. "Tyler," she said softly, "this doesn't mean things can go back to the way they were."

"I'm not apologizing to try to get you back Caroline. I'm apologizing because I _owe _you an apology. Besides, I know you're with him now. I guess I kind of always knew." Tyler said with a humorless laugh and a shrug.

Caroline's eyes widened in shock. "How did you find out about…" she trailed off, not entirely sure how to finish that sentence.

"People talk." Tyler said with a smile. "They have their suspicions, I figured it was true." He shrugged again. "Like I said, I always saw it coming."

She wanted to ask him more about these people and their suspicions but Caroline thought better of it and instead said, "well, apology accepted."

He stared intently at her, his face serious now. "I really hope you mean that Caroline. Because regardless of how things ended, you were the only person there for me during the darkest time of my life. I wouldn't have even come close to making it without you. So that makes you a friend in my book and I hope you'll consider me the same."

"Friends?" Caroline asked, arching one eyebrow.

Tyler threw her a boyish grin. "If you'll have me."

She let out a laugh before throwing him a faux serious look. "On the condition that you answer one question first."

"Shoot." Tyler said without hesitation.

"Did you plan that stunt, knocking my files out of my hands, like you did before?" She asked, her head tilted slightly to the side.

Tyler just grinned. "Guilty."

"Well as a friend, I gotta tell you" she said playfully as she brushed by him and walked toward the door, "you need new material Lockwood." Caroline threw him a grin over her shoulder as she opened the door.

"Duly noted, Forbes." He shot back as she sauntered out of the room.

Caroline smiled to herself as she made her way back to her desk. The Tyler situation had effectively been put to rest and that was one less problem she had to deal with. But her smile was short lived when she remembered that Tyler wasn't the only ex crowding her relationship with Klaus.

* * *

Riding the elevator back up to his office, Klaus held back a growl of frustration as he glanced down at his watch. 6:47. Word of the audit had gotten out and the fallout had been almost immediate. Audits made investors anxious and anxious investors were likely to take their business elsewhere. Klaus was determined not to lose a single account and had been out all day soothing the bigger companies that invested with his firm. Normally, this wouldn't have pissed him off but it meant that he'd been away from the office all day – away from Caroline. And considering how things had gone last night, Klaus wasn't so sure time apart was what they needed right now.

Hoping Caroline was still here, Klaus was striding down the hall toward his office when a voice called out his name. Pausing, he turned to face Elizabeth who was standing in the doorway of the conference room he'd assigned her to interview his employees.

"I've wrapped up with the first set of associates today." She said, walking out of the room and toward him.

"Nice to know." Klaus said, already moving to continue down the hall when she shot a hand out to stop him. Turning to face her again, Klaus made no efforts to keep the frustration out of his voice. "Did you need something else?"

"Since you're still here, I wanted to know if you'd join me for dinner." Elizabeth said, her hand dropping back to her side.

Klaus just arched an eyebrow, throwing her a look that said it all. "That sounds like a conflict of interest given your investigation into my firm."

"Not an investigation, an audit" she shot back with ease, "and I'm off the clock."

"Then by all means, go home." Klaus said, well aware of how rude he sounded and not caring in the least.

She just mimicked his look, placing both hands on her hips. "Look, I'll be here for the next couple of weeks and I would like it if we could clear the air between us. Has it occurred to you that this might be as uncomfortable for me as it is for you? Maybe even more considering I wasn't the one who walked away all those years ago. I'm not asking you for a ring, it's just dinner."

"I'm seeing someone." Klaus replied smoothly.

"As am I." Elizabeth shot back. "That doesn't change the fact that we're stuck with each other for the foreseeable future."

Klaus paused for a moment, contemplating her offer. She was right that they'd be seeing each other often over the next few weeks and the tension would only get worse if they didn't deal with it now.

"One dinner." He said, already striding back toward the elevator. "After that we're strictly business."

"Agreed." Beth said with a smile, falling into step beside him.

* * *

Caroline glanced over at the clock perched on her desk. It was almost seven and she hadn't seen Klaus come into the office at all today. There had been times throughout the day where she had considered calling him but changed her mind every time she reached for her phone. Realizing that he wouldn't be making it into the office at all today, Caroline stood from her desk and grabbed her things.

So much for moving past their conversation last night.

Caroline said a quick goodbye to Jenna before walking down the hall. She pushed all thoughts of Klaus and Elizabeth and last night from her mind as she rode the elevator down to the lobby. Tomorrow was another day and she'd deal with her doubts then. Only, it wouldn't be that simple.

Caroline was stepping out of the building when she saw it. A figure that looked suspiciously like Elizabeth ducking into Klaus' towncar right before he slid in behind her. Caroline wasn't one to jump to conclusions but she couldn't stop Alaric's words from yesterday from racing through her mind.

_If he plays his cards right, turns up the charm, reignites some old sparks, we may get out of this unscathed._

It wasn't that Caroline doubted Klaus cared about her, it was the thought that maybe he cared about his business more than her. And there was no doubt in her mind that Klaus was perfectly capable of 'reigniting old sparks'. Caroline felt her heart clench as the car took off, weaving into traffic. She felt her eyes water but before the tears could fall, Caroline gave herself a stern talking to.

This wasn't who she was. She didn't stand in the middle of crowded streets and cry over men. She was better than that. So Caroline straightened her shoulders, hailed a cab and went home. It was only when she was curled up in her sheets that Caroline let the full weight of her situation sink it. Any way you looked at it, it sucked to be her.

* * *

Though he tried to focus on the issue at hand, Klaus couldn't bring himself to think about anything other than Caroline throughout the entire meal. He was grateful when the whole ordeal was over, speeding out of the restaurant and into his waiting car. Whipping his phone out, Klaus called Caroline four times without any response.

Making a snap decision, he sent his driver in the direction of Caroline's place. Ignoring his calls was probably a sign that she wanted space but Klaus had given her 24 hours' worth of space and wouldn't be giving her a minute more. If she was still angry they needed to work through it. She couldn't turn tail and run from him – Klaus wouldn't let her. He needed her too much.

By the time he reached Caroline's building, Klaus was thoroughly convinced they would have sorted through this whole mess by the end of the night. He just needed to make her see that his past was just that – the past. More than that, everything about being with Caroline felt different than anything Klaus had had with any other woman – Elizabeth included. Klaus needed to make her understand that she was different – that she made _him _different. Once he did that, everything would be fine. More than fine. Everything would be perfect like it had been yesterday morning.

As Klaus stood in the hallway of her apartment building, the doorbell rang three times before Caroline finally appeared. She was beautiful to the point of distraction with her hair tied up in a messy bun and wearing only a pair of black lace shorts and a lace top. For a moment Klaus considered tabling all their issues and just yanking her into his arms. He hadn't felt her lips on his or her breasts pressed against his chest in 24 hours which was proving to be much longer than he could tolerate.

"What do you want?"

It was the hostile tone of her voice that snapped him out of it as his head shot up to lock eyes with her. "To see you." He replied simply. "To talk."

"Is there something you need me to do?" Caroline asked, her voice detached as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared back at him.

"May I come in?"

Caroline arched an eyebrow, throwing him a sardonic look. "I'm sure you'll understand my confusion at why my boss is on my doorstep at this time of night."

Klaus barely refrained from rolling his eyes, not wanting to aggravate her further. She seemed even more upset than she had last night which further proved his point that time apart wasn't what they needed. "I'm not here as your boss, love."

"Then you should leave." Caroline responded, already moving to close the door.

Klaus shot a hand out, holding it open and throwing her an incredulous look. "Are you really refusing to talk to me right now?"

"If you need to talk, I'm sure Elizabeth is available. Or are you all talked out in that department?"

"What is this about, Caroline?" Klaus asked, genuinely confused now.

Gritting her teeth, Caroline tried to get her breathing under control. She promised herself she wouldn't do this, wouldn't give him the satisfaction, but Klaus clearly wasn't going away without an answer. "I saw you with her earlier. Getting into your car. I hope whatever happened was worth it."

She tried to shut the door again but Klaus was proving to be immovable.

"Is that what this is about?" Klaus asked, stepping closer to Caroline. "Yes, we went to dinner Caroline and I would have told you as much if you answered your phone. Absolutely nothing happened. I wouldn't do that to you."

Even if she believed nothing happened tonight, Caroline found it hard to believe that nothing would happen in the future. "Don't take me for a fool, Klaus." She all but spat. "Do you honestly expect me to believe you won't use your past with her to your advantage now? Alaric said, you know what never mind." Caroline threw her hands in the air before trying to shut the door again.

"What did Alaric say?" Klaus said, his distress mounting in proportion to her anger.

"Get out." Caroline replied, trying in vain to shove him back.

"What. Did. He. Say?" Klaus asked again, his voice dropping to an intimidatingly low level.

"Does it really matter?!" Caroline said shouting now.

Klaus reached for her hand but she tugged it away. "Of course it matters. You matter!"

"Clearly not enough." She bit back, shaking her head.

It was then that it occurred to Klaus he was fighting to make amends for a crime he hadn't even committed. He'd gone to dinner with Elizabeth. He'd been honest and upfront about it. And she was still acting as if he'd committed some cardinal sin. "You're looking for a reason not to trust me – you've just been waiting for me to fail you." His voice was lower and softer now as he backed out of the doorway, giving her the space she had so desperately wanted. "That's why you're so insistent on hiding at the office, pretending as if there's nothing between us as a safeguard for when I inevitably let you down. We never had chance because you never thought we'd work."

Caroline just scoffed in disbelief but Klaus continued on.

"Tell me you trust me then. Tell me you didn't assume the worst when you saw me get in that car."

"Can you blame me?" The words were out before Caroline had even realized her lips were moving and the regret that hit her was instantaneous. The broken look in his eyes was enough to make her wish she could rewind time for just a minute.

But the anguish quickly disappeared and was replaced by rage, his eyes clouding over with the force of it.

"Then allow me to let you down one last time. You were right not to trust me, sweetheart." The way he said the endearment was cold and heartless. "You were nothing more than a warm body to me. It was all the thrill of the chase and now that I've had you, we can both go back to the way things were before." Even as he said the words, Klaus wanted to vomit. His heart constricted in his throat and the potent combination of hurt and fury coursed through his veins. None of it was true but he needed to make her hurt – make her bleed the way he was bleeding. "I'm just your boss, and you're just my assistant."

With that, Klaus strode away, not sparing a glance back. He knew it had only been a matter of time before he fucked things up irrevocably with Caroline. It was all far too good to be true. Self-destruction in less than a week – it was a new personal best.

* * *

**So a lot of you called his history with Elizabeth, I hope the entire chapter wasn't too predictable. And on why I chose an OOC - because I didn't want to use Tatia on account of her being over used. Anyway, thoughts? Reviews are always much appreciated. Those of you that do are amazing. Well, you're all amazing either way. **


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